The Wishing Door
by Mrs.InsaneOne
Summary: All Harry Potter, age five, wanted was to be part of a loving family. Can one desperate wish, a little wild magic, and one Ash Ketchum give him what he wants? Story is AU, No pairings, Evil!Dumbledore. Story Edited 12/14/12 w/ minor changes & new omake. Story is still COMPLETE.
1. The Drawing of the Door

**Original Summary:** _Alone and afraid, locked in his cupboard as punishment for something he didn't do, Harry Potter (age five) desperately wishes for a way out._ This story is AU and will have no pairings. Evil!Dumbledore

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN1: **_I just wanted to take a moment to say that the HP side of this story will mostly be AU. The Pokémon portions will also be somewhat AU and will draw from the TV series, the movies, and the various games (excluding the most recent releases.) That said; I will not just regurgitate canon events/facts from out of the HP universe or detailed episodes/scenes from the Pokémon worlds. The entire plot is, I think, somewhat original and based upon my own imagination._

_The timelines of both worlds will actually flow separately. IE: Harry's universe will progress in normal time while the Pokémon world will actually flow more rapidly. The exact time differences between the two worlds will be explained in more detail later on in the story._

**AN2:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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><p><em><strong><span>The Wishing Door<span>  
><strong>Chapter 1: The Drawing of the Door_

_Tuesday Evening, July 30, 1985  
>Number 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging<br>Surrey, England_

Tear filled green eyes watched miserably as the door to his tiny cupboard slammed shut hard enough to shake a cloud of plaster dust loose from the walls and ceiling. Through the thicker than normal wooden door he could hear his uncle's raspy breath and the sound of an electric drill as his uncle added two new locks to the outside of the door. Angry curses followed by the banging of the hammer interspersed with the return of the whine of the power tool caused the tiny boy with messy hair to cover his ears with his tattered pillow. Several minutes later, the drill shut off and the child could hear the sound of the new locks being jammed into place.

"That will teach you to steal food from Dudley's mouth, you ungrateful Freak!" his uncle roared through the cupboard door.

Sniffling, the cowering child that was now locked inside the dark crawl space under the stairs simply shrank back away from the door and listened to the sound of retreating footsteps as his uncle stomped off towards the kitchen. There was no point in trying to deny the accusation; neither his aunt nor his uncle had ever listened to his pleas of innocence. In fact, the more he protested or denied involvement, the harsher his punishments would be.

Oh, they never beat the child; in fact the two adults seemed to be repulsed with the mere idea of touching him. That didn't stop them from withholding his usual meager food rations, adding extra difficult chores to his already overflowing chore list, and locking him in the cupboard under the stairs for days or weeks at a time. That was in addition to the harsh words and name calling that he endured on a daily basis.

Several hours later the ceiling of his tiny room shook and rattled loudly as a heard of elephants stormed up the stairs over his head. Blinking the newly fallen dust out of his eyes, the boy stared up at the ceiling wistfully as he imagined what it would be like to have a mother and father tuck him in at night. A few minutes later, he could hear the dainty steps of his maternal aunt following his uncle and cousin up the stairs. Holding his breath, the little boy listened to the faint sounds of Dudley, his cousin, being tucked into bed.

A few seconds later, he heard the sound of a closing door followed by more thundering footsteps and then by a second door slamming shut. His aunt and uncle were going to bed early tonight. Reaching tentatively underneath the crib mattress that he used as a bed, the tiny child pulled out a four inch plastic tube with green liquid and a miniature glass capsule inside. Grasping the plastic tube with both hands, he held it tightly as he waited intently for something to happen. Fifteen minutes later, a grinding snort rumbled through the house as his uncle began to snore.

Sighing in relief, the small boy quickly bent the ends of the tube together until he heard the tinkling sound of breaking glass snapping from inside of it and then he shook it vigorously until the soft green light of the glow stick lit up his tiny cupboard. The inside of his makeshift prison looked even more depressing in the sickly light of the glow stick but the boy felt safer with the feeble illumination than without. Carefully, he set the activated stick down on the middle shelf of the small shoe rack that doubled as his dresser and dug beneath his mattress a second time.

This time he brought out eight broken bits of crayon. These small bits had been rescued from the brand new box of crayons that Dudley's Aunt Marge had given his fat cousin for his birthday two weeks earlier. Dudley had disliked the gift the moment he unwrapped it, and snapped the entire box in a childish fit. Harry had been made to clean up the mess under the watchful eye of his Aunt Petunia. When carrying each handful of broken colored wax to the rubbish bin, the boy had managed to sneak the biggest pieces into the pocket of his oversized pants.

He would have preferred to save the entire mound of shattered crayons but knew his aunt or uncle would discover the duplicity far too quickly. So he chanced just a few pieces each trip, being careful to only transfer the pieces into his pocket when no one was looking. The result was that he now had eight stunted crayons in red, red-orange, blue, blue-green, brown, gray, black, and white. There wasn't a huge variety of colors at his disposal, but the boy wasn't going to complain because what he had was better than nothing.

The child sifted through the bits of wax and selected the stub of black crayon before tucking the rest of the pieces back under his mattress where they'd be safe from discovery. Grabbing the light stick, he scooted deeper into the cupboard where the bottom stairs and the floor crowded together. Moving down onto his stomach, he pushed as deep as he could go before rolling over onto his side to face the outside wall. Once he was comfortable, or as comfortable as one can be stuffed into the smallest corner of a cramped cupboard, the boy set the glow stick down on the floor in front of him and cradled his head with his left hand while he used his right hand to draw the crude outline of a door on the drywall between the studs.

When he finished, the childish drawing was sixteen inches wide and about fourteen inches tall, with a deformed oval on the right side edge representing the doorknob. A single sniffle escaped the boy as he lay there staring at the pretend door he'd drawn onto the wall, his heart heavy with the knowledge that the door wasn't going to lead him away from his tiny prison. Tears leaked out of his green eyes and he set the crayon down beside his light stick so he could wipe the salty drops from his face.

As he moved his hand, he caught the side of it on one of the sharp nails protruding from the stairs above, drawing blood as the rusted iron bit deeply into his skin. He had to bite down hard on his lip to keep from crying out in pain as his flesh tore free of the nail. More tears flooded his face and his nose began to run as he bit down hard on his bottom lip to stifle the shrill scream of pain he felt rising in the back of his throat. He dared not make a sound though, for if he woke his relatives he'd be in even deeper trouble than he already was.

As the stinging and burning of the open wound slowly faded, the boy reached out and placed his injured hand in the middle of his crayon door and rolled back onto his stomach; leaving a bloody handprint in the center of his drawing once he moved his hand. Awkwardly he wiggled his way back into the main portion of the cupboard while carrying the glow stick, his right hand uncomfortably tucked between his neck and shoulder to prevent any of the abundant dust that coated ninety percent of the floor in his small room from getting inside still bleeding wound.

Once back on his bed, he dropped his makeshift light into his lap and tore a stripe off the edge of his ratty blanket and used it to bandage his hand. Satisfied that he'd not be bleeding all over his bed, something that was sure to anger and disgust his aunt, he curled up on his pillow and tucked the still glowing light stick under his mattress. As he gradually drifted off to sleep, he made a desperate wish that his new door would magically allow him to leave his relative's house, if only for a little while.

Unseen by the fitfully sleeping boy, on the floor in the far corner of his cupboard, several drops of his blood began to glow with an eerie dark red light. One of these drops of blood just happened to be sitting on the forgotten stump of a broken black crayon. Small sparks began floating in the air around the crayon as the glowing blood began giving off an aura of heat. In a matter of seconds the wax of the crayon had melted completely and spread out enough to connect to several more of the splattered blood and a few salty tears that had landed on the floor.

Each additional drop added to the mixture generated more sparks which fanned the growing heat in the cramped corner until the wax lines that the boy had drawn onto the wall began to shimmer and liquefy.

In the very center of the door, the large, bloody handprint the child had left on the wall smoked and sparked. Soon the blood on the wall began to bubble and ooze, the now strangely electrified fluid expanding out towards the black boundaries of melted crayon; as if an invisible being was pouring more of the charged liquid onto the wall. As the blood touched the fluid lines of melted black wax, it would stop flowing briefly before reversing directions and crossing to the opposite side of the drawn door. In this way, the small drawing was soon completely covered in the shimmering liquid.

While this was happening, the blood, tear, and wax mixture on the floor began cooling. As it cooled, the sparks pushed at the mixture, causing it to form a long, slender cylinder vaguely reminiscent of the original crayon, only longer and smoother. Once the last bit of warmth fled the newly molded crayon, the sparks gently settled onto the drawing utensil where they slowly sank down inside the dark wax.

At the exact moment that the last spark disappeared into the wax, as the clock in the parlor struck midnight, the blood on the door rushed towards the stylized handle of the drawn door in a wave of red light, acrid smoke, and dancing sparks. Red and black lights rippled around and through the now solid lines of black that defined the edges of the make believe door for a full seven minutes before vanishing completely. In the renewed darkness the soft creaking of an opening door could be heard as the section of wall where the childish door had been drawn swung open just enough to allow a soft summer breeze to slip into the room and disturb the multitude of cobwebs that hung along the steps that made up the ceiling of the cupboard.

On the mattress, the small boy whimpered and sighed as the breeze gently ruffled his hair as he slept on through the next thirty hours.

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><p><em>Friday Morning, August 02, 1985<br>Number 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging  
>Surrey, England<em>

Sleepy green eyes slowly opened and blinked tiredly as the pounding footsteps of his uncle's feet rumbled above the head of the small child. Knowing he'd be in trouble if he wasn't ready to get started on breakfast the moment his uncle opened his cupboard door (unaware that he'd slept through two full days), the boy sluggishly pushed himself up into a sitting position, only to hiss out in pain as he put too much pressure on the hand he'd cut after drawing his door. Gingerly he cradled the now throbbing hand closer to his body while he used his left hand to scoot closer to the door.

Slightly worried about how his uncle would react to the recent injury, the child sat pensively as the larger man's footsteps left the stairs and thumped around into the hallway. As the footsteps moved closer to his cupboard, the small boy held his breath, only to let it out in surprise as his uncle passed by without even slowing down to yell at him through the door. Confused, he leaned back against the wall behind him and frowned at the door thoughtfully while he tried to recall exactly what his uncle had said to him when he'd locked him in his cupboard.

Had there been any indication that he was to be confined to his cupboard indefinitely? No, he didn't think so. Only the usual snarl of disgust, because his uncle had been forced to touch him as he was pushed into his room. There'd also been several foul obscenities directed his way due to the fact that his uncle had needed to spend several pounds at the hardware store the evening before in order to purchase the new locks for the cupboard door.

It was at that point that the child remembered why he was being locked inside his room. He'd been accused of sneaking out of his cupboard to steal all of the biscuits from the brand new tin his aunt had just purchased as a bribe to keep Dudley from fussing about having to start school the first week of September. As the thought of school drifted through his mind, the child vaguely wished that he'd been allowed to attend Infant School with his cousin. Term was due to start in just over four weeks and according to his Aunt Petunia, the boy was too young and too stupid to attend classes.

Shaking off his distraction, the boy turned his attention once more to the sounds of his relatives getting ready for the day. He could hear his aunt banging pans around on the stove and hear her shrill tones as she called loudly for Dudley to come down for breakfast while his uncle made rude comments about the local politicians. Maybe they just didn't want to see him right now, they were pretty angry at him over the missing biscuits – even if he really hadn't been to blame for the loss. The boy was pretty sure that Dudley had taken the missing biscuits up to his room while Aunt Petunia was out in the back yard gossiping with the nosy lady who lived next door.

While he waited for his relatives to fetch him, the child dug out the now weakly glowing light stick and unwrapped the makeshift bandage on his hand to inspect his injury. He gagged briefly over the putrid smell of the infection that had quickly set into the unwashed wound while he'd slept as the half formed scab was pulled off when he pulled off the final layer. His entire hand was badly swollen, the area immediately surrounding the cut an angry red mixed with a sickly greenish tinge. The cut itself, now that it was reopened, oozed a steady stream of thick, yellowish-green pus.

Careful prodding of the wound caused a stream of the vile pus to explode out of the ragged flesh with a nauseating wave of decaying flesh. Thankfully, the throbbing in his hand eased a bit as the pressure that had built up while he slept was released with the stream of disgusting fluids. It still hurt, quite a bit, but no where near as badly as it had when he first got up. Using one of his oldest shirts, a castoff from his older, heavier cousin, he carefully cleaned away the pus as best as he could before he tore a clean strip of fabric from the bottom of his blanket and tenderly rewrapped his hand.

Outside of his dim room, he could hear the sounds of his aunt washing dishes as his uncle bade her goodbye on his way off to work. Ten minutes later, the rumbling pounding of his cousin's footsteps running into the drawing room shook the floor for several seconds followed by the blare of the television as his cousin sat down to watch his favorite morning programs.

_Odd,_ the boy thought to himself. _It's as if they've forgotten all about me._

The thought was oddly comforting, knowing that he wouldn't have to listen to them berate him for at least a few more hours. The only problem with them ignoring him was that they hadn't let him out to use the bathroom yet this morning and he really needed to go. He took a moment to replace the glow stick under his mattress before moving closer to the cupboard door as he listened for his aunt's softer footsteps. The moment he heard her leave the kitchen, he knocked on the door and loudly called her name – she ignored him.

Fear laced through the boy. If he wasn't let out to use the bathroom, he'd end up making a mess in his cupboard and then he'd get in even more trouble. Aunt Petunia always made sure he used to the bathroom twice a day, in order to prevent his cupboard from developing the stench of an overfilled cesspool (to quote his relatives) because of the number of clients Uncle Vernon entertained on a semi-weekly basis. Panicking, the boy beat both fists on the door and called for his aunt at the top of his lungs in an effort to attract her attention. Unfortunately, she didn't notice. Or, if she did notice she chose to ignore his cries.

Pain; burning, throbbing pain, shot through his injured hand and forced the child to immediately cease pounding on the door. Tears streaked down his face as he pressed his left hand over his mouth while cradling his hurting right hand tightly against his stomach, his entire body shuddering and shaking as he fought against his rising terror and the unbearable pain in his hand. Eventually, the moment passed and the child sank down onto his mattress and pressed his face into the thin sheets that made up his bedding.

It was as he lay there, with his eyes closed tight, that a soft breeze carrying the scent of freshly cut grass wafted through the tiny room and teased his hair. Thinking his aunt had finally seen fit to let him out, the child sat up and faced the door, only to freeze in confusion when it became obvious that the door hadn't been opened within the last minute.

The breeze returned a second time, this time it smelled of fresh, ripe berries and baking bread. The scent made the boy drool as his little tummy rumbled noisily as the scent of food reminded him that he hadn't eaten since lunch time on the day his uncle had added the locks to his door. Curious, he lifted his nose and sniffed the room in an effort to find out where the smells and the breezes were coming from. He knew it wasn't his aunt, because she was no longer in the kitchen and she never baked her own bread or bought fresh fruits from the farmer's market.

As he glanced towards the smallest corner of the cupboard he caught a splash of shimmering blue light reflecting on the back wall. Curious about the source of the strange light, for that part of his room was always – without fail – the darkest area, he grabbed his glasses from the shelves behind his head, slipped them on his face, and slowly crawled forward on three limbs while protectively cradling his injured hand against his stomach. As the ceiling sloped down, he moved onto his belly and continued moving forward by using his elbows, until he was just about even with his drawing from the night before.

The child gasped out loud the moment he discovered that his pretend door now hung open several centimeters. As he stared at the transformed drawing, he felt the breeze brush against his face, bringing with it the scent of blooming marigolds and apple pie. Tentatively he reached out with his left hand and pulled the childish door open all the way so he could look through the opening unimpeded. The shimmering blue light flooded his tiny room as his green eyes grew wide with wonder as he breathed out a soft, reverent; "Wow…"

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><p><strong>AN:<strong> _Hello again everyone, just a quick note here to let everyone know what is going on with this series. I recently spent over thirty-six hours cleaning up Wishing Door in order to avoid stressing myself out over some unpleasantness in my life and in order to help me finish writing WWYR2 (which is currently half completed with my revisions on what is written nearly complete). I've decided to start uploading the edited/revised chapters of this story in preparation of posting the first chapter of the third story in the series (which I hope to have up around the first of the New Year) and to let everyone know that I haven't abandoned this series. _

_There is no real need to re-read the entire story at this point since very little actually changed in the story over the course of the edits (though I think I added at least 3000 words total to the story); details as to what was done to the chapter can be found at the bottom of this author's note. That said, you can expect to see between two and five chapters of this story updated daily since all of the edits have been completed (not counting the ones for the omakes at the end). _

_I'm also working on editing WWYR1 in order to fix the plot holes that I left behind (which contributed to the issues I was having in completing WWYR2) and will post those updates once I've finished with the updates for this story. In between the updated chapters of this series, I will continue to post chapters on Banished Destiny (my Gundam Wing/HP crossover) and on Haunted (my Natsume Yujincho/HP crossover). My Chaos series and my Discovering series will both be given attention around the first of the year as well. _

_Anyway, enjoy the chapter! – Jenn_

**12-05-12:**_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._

**12-26-12:**_ Corrected a small mistake in the timeline that was pointed out to me by a very helpful reviewer – Harry slept through two days not just one since he'd fallen asleep just before midnight on the 30__th__ and slept through both his birthday and the first before waking up on the morning of the second._


	2. Have Luggage, Will Travel

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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><p><em><span>Chapter 2: Have Luggage, Will Travel<span>_

_Friday Morning, August 02, 1985  
>Number 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging<br>Surrey, England_

How long he sat and stared out through the magical door, the boy couldn't say. When he finally pulled his conscious mind back to reality, he shivered nervously as he craned his neck around enough to check and see if the main door to his room was still locked tight. It was. Feeling marginally safer, knowing that his secret doorway into the unknown hadn't been discovered by his so called family, he allowed his attention to be drawn back to the open door beside him.

His gaze focused on the clear-blue water-like substance that filled the open doorway for a moment. If it wasn't for the ripples that danced across the surface, it might have looked more like a glass window instead of a clear pool floating just beyond the wall of his cupboard. As he focused beyond the rippling surface, he could see tall green blurs with darker clumps of green interspersed with taller brown blobs topped with more green blurs. Some of the darker green blobs near the ground had random spots of red, orange or yellow adorning them.

If he had to guess, the boy would say the blurry picture beyond the watery barrier looked like what he'd imagine a meadow would look like. Not that the boy had ever seen a real meadow, or even a picture of a real meadow, his relatives never took him anywhere outside of the house and the only book he'd ever been allowed to look through was the battered book of fairy tales that he'd nicked from the trash one day; and it only had a few cartoonish pictures inside of it.

Edging closer to the opening, the boy stared longingly at the distorted vision. This… _this_ doorway was what he'd wished for every time he was locked inside his cupboard. The temptation to pass through the water separating his stark reality from his ideal dream vision was growing by the second. Eventually, his fear of discovery and further punishments gave way to his desire to be free from his hurtful aunt and uncle and spiteful cousin.

Making up his mind, the boy backtracked into the more open area of the cupboard and laid out the remains of his only blanket, which was roughly square shaped from all the strips he'd torn from it, over top of his mattress. In the middle of that, he added an overlarge shirt, baggy pair of pants, a cracked leather belt, two worn out pairs of socks, and a tattered jumper. Next, he dug out the used glow stick, two unbroken glow sticks, his seven remaining crayons, and the beat up book of fairy tales out from under his mattress.

Once those treasures were carefully set on top of the stack of clothes, the child quickly folded the edges of the torn blanket over top of everything and shoved the entire bundle into one of his aunt's old purses that she thrown out over a year ago and he'd salvaged. The bundle didn't quite fit inside, with the folded edges of the blanket hanging out over one side, but it the boy didn't seem to care that he wouldn't be able to zip the bag closed.

Done packing, the child set the purse down on the floor and shoved it towards the glowing doorway with one hand while he wiggled his way back into cramped corner. As he forced himself into the small space, his hand swept the newly reformed black crayon, causing the paperless cylinder to roll towards the door. Unaware of the changes made to the bit of wax, he quickly scooped the crayon up and tucked it into his pocket with one hand while he used his other hand to maneuver the purse through the door, carefully keeping hold of the strap so he didn't lose his belongings accidentally.

The pool of water felt cool on his hand as he pushed it through after his pack. Drawing it back slightly, he was amazed to discover it was still completely dry. He'd expected to get soaked the moment he passed through the stuff blocking the door. Feeling just a little more confident about his decision to leave; the green eyed boy wound the purse strap around his left wrist, grasped the edge of the doorway with both hands, shut his eyes tight, and slowly pulled his body into the small opening.

The coolness of the water shield flowed over his head and shoulders as he edged his body further inside. It felt wonderful… soothing and invigorating at the same time… the longer he was inside the better he felt. Feeling braver, he opened his eyes and found himself inside a world of luminescent blue clouds that swirled endlessly in a gentle breeze. Even the ground was made up of the cloud-like substance, though it was firm beneath his hands. He could see nothing of the green-blurred meadows he'd glimpsed through the barrier, but he couldn't find it in himself to worry right that minute.

He pulled himself the rest of the way through and tried to stand up, only to discover that the hidden corridor he was in was no taller than the door he'd drawn in his cupboard. Undeterred, he simply used his elbows to edge his way forward while pushing his pack along in front of him. Unseen behind him, the door he'd entered through slowly faded out of sight as if it had never truly existed in the first place.

Ten meters into his sluggish journey, the feeling of the air around him changed. The clouds began to feel thicker and the cool touch turned icy as tiny sparks of electricity danced around him. The boy tried not to let his growing physical discomfort feed his fears, though it was difficult to remain optimistic when the tiny sparks sent tingles of electricity through his body each time they brushed against his skin. After traveling yet another ten meters down the tunnel, small droplets of water began forming on the skin that wasn't protected by his clothing. The gathering moisture attracted the numerous sparks that were in the air around him and the tingles became static shocks that jolted his nerves each time they brushed his skin.

Scared now, the boy paused in place, only to let out a surprised shriek as several of the sparks landed on him at once. It hadn't really hurt but the unexpected sting of the multiple jolts was enough to get him moving once more. About this time, the color of the glowing clouds surrounding him began to change from blue to green. Thinking that he must be getting close to the tunnel's exit, he made an effort to go as fast as he could. The moment the blue light faded, the sparks of electricity vanished to his everlasting relief.

Feeling confident once more, the boy grinned as he moved deeper into the green mist. His confidence fled a few meters later though, when the drops of water that still clung to his skin abruptly froze and a biting wind blew up around him, chilling him to the bone. Teeth chattering uncontrollably, he attempted to turn around and go back to his room, only to discover that there wasn't enough room to turn around. Next he attempted to back up, only to feel his bare feet press up against what felt like a wall of ice.

Terrified now, the small child had no choice but to keep moving forward because the longer he lay still the colder the wind and ice made him feel. Tears seeped unknowingly out of the corner of his eyes as he forced himself to move deeper into the tunnel only for them to freeze before they reached his chin. With his entire body shivering and shaking, he scooched forward bit by bit until suddenly the ground beneath him gave way and he gave a startled yelp as he dropped down through the hole.

As he fell his body was buffeted every which way as the walls of the hole gradually solidified into green tinted marble. Desperately afraid of the fast approaching ground, he flung his arms out and frantically grasped at the smooth walls in an effort to halt his downward motion. The only thing he succeeded in doing though was stabilizing his body right side up so that he was now falling feet first instead of tumbling uncontrollably.

Giving into the inevitable, the boy squeezed his eyes tightly shut and stopped fighting against gravity. The moment he did so, his downward momentum immediately slowed to a gentle drifting. Disbelieving his senses, the boy opened his eyes tentatively, only to find the walls rushing by even faster than before. And while it appeared he was rushing speedily towards the floor, now that he was no longer panicking, he could tell that he was actually floating gently. He was just beginning to enjoy the weightless feeling of his decent when his feet suddenly connected to solid ground.

He stumbled at the unexpected contact, the ground moist and slightly spongy beneath his feet. Feeling infinitely safer now that he was no longer falling, the boy took a moment to study the details around him. The room was small, maybe a meter and a half wide at the widest point, and completely round. The smooth walls were made up of smooth rose colored marble and felt warm to the touch. The floor was covered with soft yellow-green moss that sank beneath his feet with each step he took. He glanced up at the ceiling and found it to look as if it was made of green and blue clouds, yet he could find no trace of the tunnel that had brought him here. It also appeared that there was no way out of the room.

Disappointed, the messy haired boy sat down and pouted. As he leaned against the wall he shivered slightly as the drops of ice clinging to his skin began to slowly thaw. Tired and still chilled from his journey through the cloud tunnel, he dug into his purse pack and pulled out his bundle of clothes and treasures. Digging into the blanket, he pulled out his old sweater and quickly put it on. Feeling just a bit warmer, he rolled up the extra shirt and pants he'd brought with him and set it on the floor beside him to use as a pillow. He then placed everything else but the larger section of the blanket back into his bag. Draping the blanket over his body, he lay his head down on his makeshift pillow and hugged the purse to his belly as he drifted off to sleep.

As he slept, the room around him began to glow with a soft red light and the walls slowly changed from smooth stone to rough wood. The bed of moss he'd fallen asleep on top morphed into rich soil that was soon covered in delicate shoots of sprouting grass. Above him, the clouds solidified into layer upon layer of heart shaped leaves that darkened into a rich green.

When the child finally woke once more, he was extremely confused and disoriented. Blinking owlishly, he struggled to remember his journey from this morning, though there was no indication as to how long he'd been traveling or how long he'd slept. In fact, he wasn't even sure if it was even the same day. In the end he stopped trying to make sense of this strange new world he found himself in.

He took a moment to awkwardly relieve his full bladder before changing into his spare shirt and pants. He then rolled up the dirty clothes he'd worn since the night he'd been locked in his cupboard and shoved them inside his pack before pulling his sweater back on. Next he unwrapped the makeshift bandage on his hand and found that his cut was once again swollen and full of pus. Unsure of what to do for the infected wound, aside from squeezing out as much of the foul pus as he could, he simply wrapped it back up in the same strip of fabric.

Flopping back down onto the grass, the boy sighed as his stomach growled loudly. He hadn't eaten in what felt like days and he hadn't been able to bring any food with him because he'd been locked in his cupboard before running away at the drop of a hat. Regretting his reckless decision to climb through the door, he sat there pouting as his stomach growled a second time. As his eyes roamed over the walls of the round room again, he caught sight of a door that he hadn't noticed before his nap.

Placing the strap of his purse pack over his head and left shoulder, the boy climbed back onto his feet and walked up to the door. As he reached the door, the first thing he noticed was that it was the exact same shape and size of the one he'd drawn back in his room. The second thing he noticed was that there were funny little marks carved all over the door. The marks almost looked like letters but they were shaped kind of funny. Each one had a large circle somewhere on it with a dot right in the middle. It made it look like there were eyes inside the letters.

Right below the funny carvings there was a larger carving of a ball with two smaller circles right in the middle over top of a curving line that cut the outer circle in half. Unconsciously, the child reached out and touched the center circle on the large carving. The moment his finger touched the door, the strange carvings all began to glow. The boy jumped backwards with his eyes wide in fear as the door started to shake while the light from carvings continued to grow brighter.

Suddenly, the door popped open as the lights turned off abruptly. A strong breeze rushed down from the ceiling above and pushed the door all the way open, allowing the boy to look out over the meadow he'd first seen through the watery barrier on the back in his room. Kneeling down, he looked through the opening and this time, he could clearly see the long grasses of the meadow scattered with short bushes and tall trees. Regrets forgotten, the boy quickly crawled through the doorway.

The moment he exited the doorway, the door slammed shut behind him, locking him out of the room. He spun around at the sound as gaped as he discovered that he'd been inside of a huge tree. Stepping up to the tree, he ran his hands over the place he'd just crawled through but there was no trace of the door to be found. He stood there perplexed for a moment, until he remembered that he was no longer trapped inside of the tree room or his cupboard.

Giddy with freedom, he turned away from the tree and began running through the tall grasses that filled the meadow. Most of the thick grass that filled the clearing stood a good two or three feet taller than the boy and it felt as if he was moving through a jungle as his little feet carried him further into the meadow. As he passed by one of the bushes, he noticed that it had funny shaped yellow and orange fruits hanging from its branches. He stopped to get a closer look at one and saw that it looked something like a spinning top, in that it was round with a point right in the middle of the bottom and had a long spout like stem that was attached to the bush.

The boy wasn't sure what kind of fruit it was but he was too hungry to care at this point. He was also far too young to worry about whether or not the fruits of this place were actually edible. He quickly reached out his left hand and picked the biggest of the odd looking fruit that he could reach. He lifted the gigantic fruit (it was bigger than both of his hands) to his mouth, took a huge bite, and began to chew. He made faces as he chewed, due to the spicy flavor of the berry, but he was far too hungry to spit it out; even if it burned his tongue. When he finished with that bite, he reached up and pulled off another one that he tucked into his pants' pocket for later (for once thankful for Dudley's overly large cast offs).

He moved further out into the grasses now, pretending to be an explorer as he continued eating the fruit. He'd not gone but a few dozen steps when he came across a second bush of fruit, this one growing what looked like pinkish orange strawberries with large yellow spots on the bottom of the fruit that were even bigger than the first one he'd picked. Tucking the half eaten spicy berry into his pocket, he eagerly hurried towards the bush, pulled off one of the new berries, and immediately took a bite. To his surprise, this one tasted sweet. It was absolutely delicious, almost like candy. Plucking several more of the fruits from the shrub, he tried to tuck them into his pockets but they were too big.

As he took several more bites of the one he'd started eating, he looked around for something to carry the fruit in. Suddenly he gave a happy shout and pulled his blanket out of the old purse. Next he set it down on the ground so he could fill that with more of the berry like fruits. He'd practically stripped the bush clean when he heard a loud shrill scream echoing through the meadow.

Nervous, he dropped the fruits he had in his hands as he looked through the nearby grass trying to find the person or animal who'd cried out. When he didn't see anything, and didn't hear another sound, he bent down to retrieve the fruits he'd dropped. As he was picking them up, a cloud of shadows descended on him and several somethings screamed down at him angrily.

Snapping his face up quickly, the boy screamed out in terror as the creatures above him dove to attack.

* * *

><p><strong>AN 12-05-12:<strong>_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._


	3. An Unexpected Rescue

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><em><span>Chapter 3: An Unexpected Rescue<span>_

_Wednesday Morning, July 31, 2002  
>Berry Meadow, Route One<br>Outside Pallet Town, Kanto Region_

Ash Ketchum walked confidently along the road towards Pallet Town whistling a jaunty tune as his faithful friend and first Pokémon, Pikachu, loped beside him. Ash was on his way home to visit his mother for a couple of weeks, at her request, in order to celebrate his twentieth birthday. The tall, messy haired, brown eyed man felt a wave of nostalgia wash over him as he took a deep breath and gazed out over the thick grassland meadows that bordered the road.

"It feels good to be going home," Ash announced wistfully, "doesn't it Pikachu?"

"Pika, pika," his little friend agreed readily.

Ash laughed out loud as he reached down and scooped Pikachu up into his arms as he started running down the road in order to get home a little sooner. They were just passing one of the larger berry meadows when he heard the agitated screeching of a flock of wild spearows. Curious, the pair slowed to a stop and turned to face the meadow in an attempt to see what was going on. Pikachu climbed up onto Ash's shoulder and stood up as his long ears twitched and swiveled as he too listened to the angry bird Pokémon.

"I wonder what's bothering the spearows," Ash muttered as he craned his neck higher. "It's probably just a rattata or two raiding their berry bushes. Come on Pikachu, let's keep going."

Ash had already begun to turn away from the riled birds when a piercing scream cut out above the sound of the screeching spearows. Pikachu flinched and cowered on Ash's shoulder as the man whipped back around and began rushing through the grass towards the attacking flock. _That didn't sound like any Pokémon I've ever heard! _Ash thought to himself as his long legs ate up the distance separating him from the violent flock.

As they drew closer, Pikachu launched himself from his perch and shot ahead right into the center of the attacking spearows. "Pikachu! Thunder attack, now!" Ash ordered as he skidded to a stop just on the edge of the trampled grass in time to catch a glimpse of a badly scratched arm and black hair before several spearows darted in front of him blocking the view.

From deep within the flock, Pikachu roared out a fierce, piiikaaachuuu, as he shot out a hundred bolts of lightning that electrocuted the entire flock. Roughly half of the aggressive birds turned tail and fled, their tail feathers smoking behind them or fainted from the powerful attack. Unfortunately, a dozen of the more fierce spearows weren't scared off so easily. As the brave little Pikachu prepared another thunder attack, Ash pulled two more pokéballs from the back of his belt and tossed them into the air as he called out the names of the Pokémon that resided inside the red and white balls and snapped out commands as he dove into the fray.

"Blastoise, Charizard, I choose you! Blastoise, use your hydro pump and shoot the spearows out of the sky. Charizard, attack with your flamethrower and drive them off."

As Ash fought his way to Pikachu's side, he pulled off his jacket and used it like a whip to further drive away the angry birds. All around him blasts of water, fire, and electricity tossed the birds head over tail feathers but the agitated flock of aggressive birds refused to flee. Once he reached Pikachu, he dropped to his knees beside the unmoving form of a small boy, gasping in horror as he wondered what such a young child was doing out in the meadows all alone. Working quickly, Ash ran his hands over the boy's arms and legs to make sure nothing was broken before he wrapped the child in his jacket and carefully lifted him into his arms.

Climbing to his feet, he ducked low to protect the small boy with his body as he began to run back in the direction of the road. Over his shoulder, he barked out several more orders to his faithful Pokémon as he ran. "Pikachu, Blastoise; head for the road you two. Charizard, fly behind us and keep blasting the spearows out of the sky if they chase us!"

As they reached the road, Ash slowed down only long enough to thank Blastoise for his help and return him to his pokéball (the bulky grass type Pokémon no longer as fast on his feet as he had been when he was smaller). He gave a quick glance behind, where he could see close to thirty spearows still following them. Groaning, he urged Pikachu to climb back onto his shoulder and then began running down the road in the direction of Pallet Town. Above and behind him, he could hear Charizard roaring again and again as the brave dragon Pokémon kept the spearows from getting too close.

As he ran, Ash could feel his legs and chest burning with the extra strain of carrying the limp figure in his arms after having already spent a good portion of the day traveling by foot. He could barely draw a full breath but he dared not stop now that they'd finally put a good distance between themselves and the angry flock of Pokémon. Up ahead he could see the roofs of Pallet Town rising into view and he put on an extra burst of speed as his destination came into sight.

The moment he passed the first house, Ash began yelling out for everyone outside to get under cover. His old neighbors glanced up with concern as he flashed passed them but he had no further breath to spare for explanations as he rushed on, heading for the Pokémon lab on the other side of town. The men and women of Pallet Town were quick to grasp the seriousness of the situation as the fiercely fighting Charizard and the angry flock of spearows soon came into site. Instead of running though, the town's people simply dropped what they were doing and began calling on their own Pokémon to help protect the town from the wild spearows' attack.

Meanwhile, Ash hadn't slowed down. He was far too concerned with the unmoving and heavily bleeding child that lay limply in his arms, knowing that the boy's only hope of surviving the attack lay with his old friend Professor Samuel Oak. If they'd been closer to one of the larger cities, he could have taken the boy to the hospital instead, but as it stood, the only one with a chance of helping the boy was the Professor.

As he rounded the corner of the lab, he saw one of Professor Oak's many assistants walking out of the door. Ash yelled out asking the man to keep the door open before running right past the startled man. Finally safe, Ash stumbled to a stop as he raised his voice and repeatedly called out the professor's name, "Professor Oak? Professor Oak?"

"Huh? Ash? Is that you?" a confused voice called from the back room of the lab. "Back here, Ash!"

Ash mentally sighed with relief that Professor Oak was actually in his laboratory for once, because the older man often spent weeks at a time in Goldenrod city where he hosted a radio program about Pokémon. Hurrying through the lab, Ash cradled his burden carefully to avoid knocking his legs or head into any of the many machines that filled the main room of the lab. "I need your help Professor! It's an emergency!"

"Oh? Which Pokémon of yours is hurt? Did you get caught up in too many battles on your way home?" Professor Oak queried as he poked his head around the door to get a glimpse of the injured Pokémon.

"I found a boy being attacked by a flock of spearow," Ash blurted out as he finally reached the professor.

"A boy? I'm not familiar with that Pokémon," Professor Oak stated as he stared down on the bundle in Ash's arms trying to get a glimpse of what he thought was a new Pokémon. "Is it a new type you've found recently?"

"No, he's not a Pokémon, Professor," Ash corrected with exasperation. "He's a little boy, a _human_ child. He's bleeding pretty badly, Professor, it was an entire flock that attacked him and he didn't appear to have a Pokémon companion watching over him."

"A child? Why didn't you say so! Don't just stand there, take him into my office and lay him on the couch, I'll take a look at him and see what I can do. Just let me grab the first aide kit from the lab."

Ash huffed fondly after the somewhat senile professor, thankful that this seemed to be one of his better days. Spinning around on his heel, he quickly walked back out into the main lab and turned to the left where he could see the open office door ahead of him. Using a shoulder he pushed on the light as he walked into the cluttered office and gently placed the unconscious child down on the couch. He had just started removing his jacket from around the boy when Professor Oak joined him.

"My goodness! How many spearow did you say were in the flock?" Professor Oak exclaimed once he saw the hundreds of bleeding cuts and scratches that covered the child's entire body, some of them quite deep.

"At least sixty, but there might have been more, and at least a third of them chased us all the way into town," Ash answered as he leaned back out of the way. "He was in Berry Meadow. Is there anything else you need from me? If not, I need to get out and help chase away the spearows that chased us all the way here because I have a feeling they're still out there."

"No, no… I'll be fine. I can take care of him for now. Go do what you need to do."

Ash nodded and after taking one last look at the injured boy, he took off at a slow jog. Once back outside he found the rest of the town fending off the agitated flock, fighting the enraged bird Pokémon with a couple dozen of the domesticated Pokémon that belonged to the town folk. Up in the sky, just above the diving spearow, he could make out the large orange form of his Charizard still gamely flaming the wild birds from above.

"Alright Pikachu, let's finish this!" Ash cried out as he fetched the four remaining pokéballs that he carried on his belt and began calling out the Pokémon he had with him. "Blastoise, I need you again! Venusaur, come on out! You too, Machamp and Alakazam! Drive the wild spearow away everyone!" With a great roar Ash's his five additional Pokémon rushed into the fray.

Together with the town folk, the group drove the berserk birds out of the village, chasing them all the way back to Berry Meadow. By this time, the agitated bird Pokémon finally had enough and the flock scattered and vanished into the trees. Ash watched them go as the townsfolk gradually returned their Pokémon to their pokéballs and began drifting back towards Pallet Town. Shaking his head over the stubbornness of the fierce bird Pokémon, Ash carefully entered the meadow and slowly began searching the attack site in the hopes of finding some clue as to the identity of the boy he'd rescued and information on where his parents or Pokémon had gone.

All he found though was a pile of mashed berries, a scattering of shredded fabric, and the battered remains of some kind of bag. Picking up the bag and tucking it into his backpack, thinking it must belong to the boy or possibly the boy's parents, he diligently began gathering up the torn fragments of cloth in order to keep the meadow clean and prevent the spearow from becoming agitated by the foreign material. As he worked, his six Pokémon kept watch for any returning spearow for him.

Twenty minutes later, Ash picked up the final scrap of fabric, recalled all of his Pokémon but Charizard, and made his way out of the tall grass before he glanced back to search the meadow one last time for any sign of anyone else; worry filling him when he saw no trace of the child's missing parents. Tired and sore, for he'd been scratched and pecked more than a few times during the commotion, Ash turned around and made his way back to Pallet Town where he found his mother anxiously waiting for him at the edge of town, as he'd been the last one to return. Ash smiled at his mom as he gave her a hug to let her know he was mostly okay. She hugged him back tightly before leading him home so she could tend to his injuries herself while he explained what had happened.

An hour later, after a nice hot shower, an equally hot meal, and having his tended to, Ash and his mother made their way back to Professor Oak's lab to check on both the professor and the boy. When they arrived, they found two of the professor's aide's cleaning up and shutting down the equipment for the day. One of the two men, the same one that had opened the door for Ash earlier, simply raised his arm and pointed towards the professor's office before Ash even opened his mouth to ask. Shaking his head in amusement, Ash gave a wave of thanks, as he and his mother continued on to the office. Knocking at the door, to let Oak know they were there, Ash opened the door and walked in with his mother on his heels.

Inside, they found the tiny boy wrapped in bandages practically from head to toe and covered with a light blanket. Sitting behind his desk, the elderly professor was gently snoring. Delia Ketchum laughed fondly as she walked up to the professor and gently woke him. Knowing that the forgetful and overworked man often forgot to take care of himself, she invited him back to the house for a bite to eat after asking her son to take the child home.

Ash studied the unconscious child for several seconds, taking in the messy black hair – so like his own – and pale skin. He guessed the child to be no more than three or four years old as he was so small. It made him wonder who the boy was and what he'd been doing out in the middle of the meadow all by himself. He knew the boy wasn't from Pallet Town, there were no children left in the small village as they'd all long since grown up and started Pokémon journeys of their own, much as he had ten years earlier.

That meant the boy must have wandered down from the north, from the larger town of Viridian. Which seemed much too far for such a youngster to travel alone, the distance between the two towns was well over three miles. The boy would have had to leave long before Ash himself had reached Viridian, and he didn't recall hearing any rumors of a missing child when he stopped in to say hello to Officer Jenny. Maybe he'd been picnicking with his family and gotten lost, but if that was the case, why wasn't anyone looking for him?

Shaking away the mystery, Ash gently lifted the child up into his arms once more and headed back to his house, Pikachu still riding silently on his shoulder. It was a short trip between the two buildings but Ash was feeling the strain in his muscles from the mad dash earlier in the afternoon. By the time he reached home, he was ready to collapse and the only thing keeping him going was the near weightless bundle in his arms.

As he stepped inside, he could hear the tired voice of Professor Oak discussing the injuries the boy had received. The list was depressingly long but thankfully from the sounds of it most of the scratches would heal over the next week or two. Ash looked down at the boy in his arms and wondered again how he'd ended up in Berry Meadow.

"The only scratch that makes no sense," Professor Oak continued as Ash listened from where he leaned against the door jam, "is the one on the little tyke's right hand. It's deeper than most of the rest, except one or two long scratches on his back, and it's seriously infected. I've ordered some antibiotics from Pewter City but they'll take a day or two to arrive. I also spoke with Officer Jenny in Viridian and reported that a lost boy had been found. She doesn't think any of the town folk up there have lost a child but she's going to check around town and call me back in the morning."

"Could his family have been just passing through town on the way to Indigo Plateau or sightseeing around Berry Meadow?" Ash asked as he finally entered the room with his burden.

"It's possible, though they surely would have noticed him missing long before he found his way down here."

"Ash, honey, take him up to your old room and tuck him into bed, will you?" Mrs. Ketchum ordered. "I'd changed the sheets earlier this morning in anticipation of you arriving sometime today."

"Yes, mom," Ash replied without hesitation as he continued on through the kitchen and climbed up the stairs to his room while Pikachu dropped down off his shoulder in order to beg a few treats from Professor Oak.

Inside the room he found his mother's Mr. Mime laying out a sleeping bag on the floor on the opposite side of the room from the bed. Ash gave the friendly Pokémon a quick greeting as he gently pulled back the sheets on his bed and slid the boy out of his arms. The boy cried out unconsciously as Ash's hand pressed on a few of the scratches on his back but he didn't wake up. Frowning, Ash slowly stood back up as he pulled the sheet and blankets up over the boy.

Pulling over the chair from his desk, Ash seated himself beside the bed and studied the boy more closely. Aside from a couple dozen small angry scratches on his face, from spearow claws, there was an odd shaped scar on the boy's forehead. It was a ragged scar, with raised flesh, and roughly shaped like a thunderbolt attack.

"Strange," the young man announced thoughtfully to the room as he glanced around at all of his old Pokémon posters on the walls. "I've never seen a scar quite like that before. I wonder where you got it from. For that matter, where in the world did you come from, child? How did you get into the meadow and where on earth are your parents? They must be worried sick about you by now. If I hadn't been on the road at the time, I don't think anyone in town would have heard the commotion. The spearow would have killed you if our Pokémon hadn't driven them off."

When he looked back down at the boy, he was startled to see a pair of terrified green eyes looking up at him from behind a few stray strands of hair. He hadn't thought that the boy would wake anytime soon, so he was a bit caught off guard to find the child looking up at him. Ash gave the boy a slow smile and reached out to brush the hair out of the boy's face only to stop when the boy bolted sideways and huddled against the wall.

"Easy there, champ," Ash soothed as he withdrew his hand and kept a close eye on the now trembling boy. "I'm not going to hurt you."

The child didn't calm down though, in fact he seemed to become even more anxious as his eyes darted wildly all around the unfamiliar room. Thinking quickly, Ash whistled for Pikachu, who was currently sitting downstairs with his mother and the professor. He figured the presence of the Pokémon would have a calming effect on the child – after all what child doesn't like a cute and cuddly Pikachu?

Two minutes later, Ash learned that terrified toddlers who had just been attacked by a flock of angry Pokémon don't like pikachus. In fact, they become down right hysterical in the presence of _any_ Pokémon, tame or wild. The moment Pikachu had jumped onto Ash's lap into the boy's line of sight; the boy had begun screaming shrilly. The sound startled Pikachu, who jumped onto Ash's face in fright, just as the boy bolted off the bed and out of the room. Ash, completely bewildered by the latest turn of events, spent several precious seconds trying to dislodge the frightened Pikachu so he could give chase.

Once he made it out of the room, he followed the sounds of chaos down to the first floor where he found a frightened Mr. Mime crying on its back while his mother tried to help the older Pokémon off the floor. Professor Oak was sprawled in front of the now open front door with a struggling bundle of shrieking wild child as the recently rescued boy tried to escape.

Just when it looked like Oak wouldn't be able to keep hold of the child much longer, a curious Charizard, who'd been out flying above the town watching for any spearows that might try to return, stuck his head in through the door and sniffed the boy's hair. The boy immediately froze as he turned frightened green eyes up to look at the huge orange dragon. The shock must have been too much for the grievously injured boy after his short escape attempt because he gave out a single pitiful whimper of fright before his eyes rolled up in the back of his head and he fainted.

"Well that certainly wasn't how I planned to spend the evening," Professor Oak announced suddenly as he slumped back against the door frame now that he no longer had to fight the child in his arms. "I haven't had so much exercise since… since my last battle and that was years ago."

"Let me help you, Professor," Ash insisted as he walked up to the older man and scooped the child up out of his arms. Ash then passed the now unconscious child to his curious Charizard to hold for a moment so he could help the older man up off the floor. "Shall I walk you home, sir?"

"No, no, I'll be fine. I dare say you'll have your hands full enough with that young one while we wait to hear from Officer Jenny about the lad's absent parents. I'll see you in the morning. Goodbye, Delia, thank you for the wonderful meal. Goodnight, Ash, keep a close eye on the boy for the night. You may want to check his bandages; I think a few might have come loose during our scuffle."

Forty-five minutes later, Ash was once again sitting next to his old bed, watching the sleeping child as his mother worked to re-secure the bandages that had been pulled loose by his struggles. Ash couldn't help but frown over at the child as he replayed the entire incident in his mind. Something was desperately wrong. He just couldn't put a finger on what it was though. Rubbing his face tiredly, Ash put the mystery out of his mind for the time being and scratched Pikachu behind the ears as the old mouse Pokémon dozed on his lap.

"All done," Delia suddenly stated as she rose from the bed after pulling the covers up to the child's chin. "Hopefully he'll sleep through the night for now and feel safer in the morning; when he's fully rested."

"I hope you're right, mom," Ash said around a yawn. "I'll have Venusaur sleep in front of the bedroom door tonight, he's big enough to block the door but at the same time his size isn't as overwhelming as Charizard's. Charizard is actually sleeping outside on the roof tonight anyway; he's keeping a look out for the spearow."

"Are you sure you should use the Pokémon to keep the boy from running away again? He seemed so frightened of them earlier. He was positively petrified of Mr. Mime when he saw him."

"He reacted the same way with Pikachu but I think it was just the shock of seeing a Pokémon again so soon after being attacked by the flock of spearow. I'm sure he'll be much calmer in the morning. And don't forget, he's in a strange house with strange people, so it's natural that he's afraid."

"I hope you're right," Delia countered uncertainly. "Well, get a good night's rest, I know you need it after all the excitement tonight on top of your long journey from Hoenn. I love you, Ash, and I am very glad to have you home."

"I love you too, mom. I'll see you in the morning."

* * *

><p><strong>AN 12-05-12:<strong>_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._


	4. Another Escape Attempt

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><em><span>Chapter 4: An Escape Attempt<span>_

_Friday Morning, August 02, 2002  
>Ketchum Home, Pallet Town<br>Kanto Region_

The warmth of sunlight on his face and a soft tugging on his hair woke the boy up from a deep sleep. His head felt all fuzzy, his entire body ached, and he could feel someone playing with his hair. He opened his eyes and tilted his head back to see who it was, only to groan as the bright light hurt his eyes and the slight movement set his nerves on fire. Whoever was touching his hair stopped for a few seconds before starting again. Whimpering in the back of his throat, the boy fought weakly to twist away from the questing fingers in his hair.

He'd never experienced much physical contact in his life, and what little contact there had been hadn't been the most pleasant and so he didn't particularly care to have anyone touch him. He especially wasn't used to soft, affectionate touches like those he was experiencing at the moment; touches that confused and frightened him. The only human contact he'd had during the last three and a half years of his life had been the occasional tight hold of his arm, a firm smack on the back of the head, or a smart spanking on the butt. Unless you counted the times that his cousin and his cousin's gang of friends cornered him and beat the daylights out of him.

The boy wondered if that's why he was so sore at the moment. Had Dudley and his gang beat him up the day before? The other boys usually made it a habit of cornering him at least four times a week for what they called 'physical training'. But no, he'd spent all day in his cupboard, hadn't he? He vividly remembered his uncle installing two new locks on the outside of his cupboard. So, why was it so bright? His cupboard had no windows and the light bulb had been removed from the fixture years ago (to prevent him from wasting electricity).

Completely confused now, the boy shrank away from the continued contact and moaned loudly as his body protested the movement violently by setting it on fire. Just before he passed out once more, he thought he heard a soft voice muttering something that sounded like 'pika, pika' in his ear.

The next time he woke the sun had risen higher and no longer shone on his face. It didn't hurt so much when he opened his eyes this time, though the rest of his body still throbbed and ached with every little movement. Thankfully, it seemed whoever had been running their fingers through his hair had stopped. He thought he might be all alone wherever he was now; he hoped he was at least.

As he blinked the sleep from his eyes, he studied what he could see of the walls and ceiling around him. He was growing more nervous by the second because he didn't recognize any of it. Even without his glasses, he could tell the color of the walls were wrong, there were strange posters tacked up on both the walls and the ceiling, and the bed was much too soft and comfortable to be his, let alone one of his relatives. Not even the bed in the guest room, which he'd sat on just once when no one was looking, had felt this soft and comfortable.

He let out a long, low whine as his most recent memories slowly came back to him as he lay there. He remembered the long frightening journey through the strange cloud tunnel, the odd round room with the disappearing door, and the beautiful meadow with the tasty fruit trees. He whined a second time, long and loud, as he vividly remembered the angry birds attacking him as he gathered the berry like fruits from the one tree. There'd been so many of the scary, angry birds and they'd scratched and pecked him over and over again as he tried to protect his face from their beaks and claws.

Then… then there'd been that strange yellow creature that had appeared out of no where. He'd seen the thing shoot lighting out of its body. He'd felt the electricity of the attack wash over his body with a stinging jolt that knocked him out. Then, he'd been woken up by the sound of a strange man talking about some kind of spears and him being killed. The man then tried to grab him when he saw he was awake. The worst though, was when the man called that terrifying yellow creature into the room. The boy vividly remembered the feel of the animal's attack and he screamed the moment he'd seen it appear again.

He must have frightened the animal away with his voice, because it jumped away from him, allowing him to escape from the room. His attempt to get away was thwarted though, twice. Once by a tall pink and white creature with horns, he thought it looked like a devil as it stood half in the shadows, and the second time by another man that grabbed him from behind as he rammed past the devil-creature. He was scared out of his wits by that time, seeing monsters at practically every turn. He just wanted to find his way home; at least his relatives' didn't set monsters on him.

He'd just about pulled free from the old man in the funny coat when he felt something large sniffing his head. When he looked up, he'd seen the largest monster yet; a huge orange dragon with massive wings and a burning tail. Its head was three times larger then he was, and it was close enough that it could eat him with one bite if it so much as opened its mouth. That was the last thing he remembered.

And now here he was in the strange room again, tucked into a strange bed, in a terrible world filled with monsters that kept trying to eat or kill him. He didn't know what to do or where he should go but he knew he had to get away. There had to be somewhere he could hide until he figured out how to open the door in the tree again. Maybe he just needed to draw a new door? Hoping that he'd just figured out a way home, the boy fought through the pain as he reached up to grab the strap of his pack, only to discover the purse was missing. He vaguely recalled one of the birds ripping the strap away with its claws.

Hope fading, the boy let out a wretched sob followed by another soft whine and whimper; until he remembered the black crayon he'd stuffed in his pockets before leaving his room. Desperately he fumbled under the covers in an effort to find his pocket only to discover that aside from an assortment of tightly wrapped bandages, he wasn't wearing a single stitch of clothes. A fact that hadn't registered during his frantic escape attempt, when he'd been too busy trying to get out of the foreign house that he was in.

Big, fat tears began slipping from the corner of his eyes as he fought against the feeling of desolation that had come over him. The pain only made his predicament worse, as his entire body protested against even those scant movements. Closing his eyes, he bit back a sob. He soon snapped his eyes back open though as he felt a furry paw wiping the tears from the side of his face. Sitting right beside him was the yellow creature from the night before, its paw hovering over his face with single teardrop clinging to a tiny claw.

"Pikachu? Pika, pika?" the creature murmured sadly as it stared down at the boy with big eyes.

The boy tried to press himself deeper into the mattress below him in an effort to get away from the odd creature that could make lightning. He froze though, when he felt someone run fingers through his hair once more. Slowly he lifted his eyes up and tilted his head back just enough to get a look at the huge bluish-green face hovering just behind him. The fingers he'd thought were being run through his hair were actually two odd green ropes with tiny bulbs on the ends.

A strangled scream escaped from his lips as he jerked his head sideways away from the newest monster. The movement sent a sharp spike of pain down his neck and back, but he didn't care, he just needed to escape from the giant monsters. He no longer cared that he was naked beneath the covers and the bandages and he knew he could ignore his pain long enough to get away; after all he'd had worse injuries from the not so tender ministrations of his older cousin and his friends.

With a desperate tug, he yanked the blankets off of him and dislodged the yellow creature from beside him. He threw himself off the bed to avoid the attacking green ropes, and landed painfully on his right hand and side, causing his vision to go black around the edges. Frantically, he shook off the pain and dizziness before ducking the next attack of the funny ropes. Scrambling to his knees he turned to face the direction he remembered the door being in, only to find the enormous body of the blue-green creature blocking the way. He stared at the odd plant thing growing out of its back with horror for a full minute before he scuttled sideways under the bed with a shrill screech as the ropes brushed against his back and sides.

Unfortunately, the bottom of the bed was far too close to the ground, and the wooden slats that held the mattress in place scraped cruelly against the deep cuts on his back, causing him to cry out again in pain. In desperation, he forcefully wiggled deeper under the bed while ignoring the growing pain in his back. When he felt the green vine like things wrap around his left foot and gently tug on his foot to pull him out the ordeal became too much for the boy to handle and he freaked out completely. He kicked at the rope thing with his right foot and screamed again and again when the thing refused to let go.

By now he was wedged so tightly under the bed that he couldn't turn around to use his hands to free his foot. Each tug from the living rope rubbed his back tighter against the wooden supports and aggravated his already painful injuries. On top of that, the infected wound on his hand split open from the pressure and the foul stench of the oozing pus clogged his lungs, making it difficult for him to breathe. From somewhere in the room, he could make out a disoriented man's voice speaking.

"Hu-wha? Venusaur, what are you doing?"

"Pika! Pika!" the yellow creature cried in response from somewhere up above.

"Oh… Oh!" came the man's reply. "Don't pull him, Venusaur… hold on there, Sport; you look like you're stuck. Let me move the bed."

The boy just screamed as he thrashed even harder, desperate to get away from the madness of the world he found himself in. He heard the man say something else, then a weird snapping sound, and another voice calling out some nonsensical words. The next thing he knew the floor was shaking beneath him as the bed rose up into the air and the rope thing began to pull him out from under it. Rolling over onto his back, the child could see yet another yellow monster; this one had a long mustache, appeared to be wearing some kind of brown armor, and held two bent spoons in its hands.

His screams died in his throat as he began to whimper in terror, he was beyond hysterical with fear at this point. Wide eyed he lunged at the rope that bound his foot and pulled on the thing, bringing the slack up to his mouth he bit down hard. This caused the big bluish monster to cry out in pain even as it released the hold it had on him. Free once more, he darted away from the bed and tried to head towards the door once more, only to find that it was still blocked by the monster that had been trying to capture him.

A single frantic glance around the room revealed the location of the only window. With a tortured sob, he scrambled across a throw rug and shoved at the glass to open it and when that didn't work; he tried pushing up on it. When the window still didn't open he became so frustrated with everything that he simply started pounding on the glass hoping that he'd be able to break out of the room that way. As hundreds of tiny cracks began forming beneath his fists with each hit, he felt strong arms wrap around his waist and lift him away from the window.

He struggled for a full minute before the pain of his injuries finally sapped the last of his strength and he slumped weakly against the man's chest as he began to sob loudly. The boy could feel the rumble of the man's chest as he spoke to the monsters but his ears were ringing too loudly to hear exactly what he was saying this time. He couldn't even find it in him to care at this point and he closed his eyes to shut out the room so he wouldn't have to see the monsters again.

Resigned to what he believed would be a slow and painful death, the boy began to fade out of consciousness, only to snap awake in confusion as he felt the man begin to rock him gently back and forth while still holding him. Concentrating hard, he could even hear the man humming softly under his breath. The small touch of kindness felt foreign and strange to him and he unconsciously tensed in the man's arms.

"Shh, shh, shh," the man shushed as he continued to rock him. "Relax, there's no reason to be afraid. You're safe here. My friends didn't mean to frighten you, they won't hurt you. There, there now… just relax."

"Ash Ketchum, just what in the world has been going on up here?" a woman demanded as the door opened with a loud thump. "The entire house about near shook itself apart with all the banging and stomping coming from in here!"

"Sorry, mom," the man, Ash, said sheepishly as he turned half around to face the door.

The boy could just make out the blurry form of the woman standing at the door as he peered at her with squinted eyes through the stands of his hair that had fallen in his face. She had long brown hair, down to at least her shoulders, and was wearing a long pink dress with a white half apron tied around her waist.

"Oh, why on earth do you have that poor child out of bed!? Hand him to me so I can put him back right this minute! I'll have to check his bandages again to make sure they haven't come loose now."

The boy instinctively cringed away from the woman as she held out her arms to take him, unconsciously pressing closer to the man holding him, completely forgetting that he'd just recently been fighting to escape the very man that held him in his arms. He would have fought to free himself again, if not for the pain he was feeling and how tired he was after his second failed escape attempt. Whimpering pitifully, he closed his eyes again and turned his face away from the woman as he now clung desperately to the arms around his waist.

"Oh, the poor dear is frightened again," the woman cooed as she reached out to brush his hair with one hand.

The child flinched violently away from the contact, the touch poignantly reminding him of the green ropes of the large blue-green monster that had done the same exact thing not too long ago. He gave a weak shout in protest when her hand touched his hair a second time before she traced a finger down his cheek. The arms supporting him tightened just a hair around him, just enough to keep him from squirming out of the man's arms. As the woman continued her gentle caresses, brushing her fingers through his hair and along the side of his cheek, tears began falling from his eyes once more as he brokenly spoke for the first time in the presence of the strangers.

"Nno… no… nO… NO!"

Startled by the outburst the woman froze, her hand still resting against the boy's cheek. When the boy said nothing more, she began caressing his face once more, hoping to calm him down enough so that she could check his bandages.

This time the boy yelled out a loud, 'STOP!', while jerking forcefully away from her hand. Angry and frightened green eyes glared at her from beneath his wild bangs while he began struggling to free himself from the arms still imprisoning him.

Ash stumbled backwards, caught off guard by the sudden movement, and smacked his head hard on the fractured window behind him. The blow stunned the man hard enough that his knees buckled, sending man and boy to the floor in a tangled pile of arms and legs. Dazed from the impact against the floor and still extremely tired and weak from everything that had happened to him; the boy quickly succumbed to the darkness that had been creeping around the edges of his mind for the past several minutes.

The next time he regained consciousness, the boy moaned softly as he found himself tucked into the strange bed once again. He had no strength to fight his way out this time though, as his body felt weaker then ever. He also felt way too hot. In fact, it felt like he was burning up under the light blanket. He didn't know it but the infection in his hand had progressed to the point where it was traveling through his blood, sending angry red streaks up his arm and causing his temperature to spike dangerously high. His other wounds, from the bird attack, compounded the issue because his tiny, malnourished body struggled to both fight off the infection and heal his many cuts. His two desperate attempts at running away from those he saw as his captors and their monsters only acerbated the problem as it had sapped the last reserves of strength that he had.

Someone must have heard him fussing, because he soon felt a cool cloth being laid across his face. The cool dampness felt so wonderful that instead of trying to get away from the foreign touch he leaned into it, seeking what little relief it offered from his rising fever. He could hear someone humming softly near by as he slowly faded out again.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>_I just wanted to give a quick thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story and to those readers who have added this story to their Alerts and Favorites. I know I still very rarely reply to reviews (because I don't feel comfortable with the review system on this site) but I do appreciate each and every one of them and do try to answer questions when they arise; though if the answer to the question will appear in the story I might choose to not answer since answering the question might give away the plot._

_Anyway… thank you again everyone… ~ Jenn_

**AN 12-05-12:**_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._


	5. Fevered Dreams

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><em><span>Chapter 5: Fevered Dreams<span>_

_Thursday Night, August 08, 2002  
>Ketchum Home, Pallet Town<br>Kanto Region_

Six days later found Ash sitting beside the bed where the boy lay sweating yet again. He and his mother had patiently sat beside the bed both night and day as the poor child's fever spiraled out of control due to the infection turned blood poisoning. Diligently the two of them bathed the boy's face, drained the pus from his hand, changed his many bandages, and fed the boy liquids each time he regained consciousness; delirious though he was. Professor Oak visited frequently during this time, doing what he could for the child, knowing that he needed professional help that he couldn't provide.

The antibiotics ordered from Pewter City never arrived, there'd been a mix-up somewhere along the way and the medication had been sent to Lavender Town by mistake. Several violent storms, appearing out of nowhere, had rolled through the area which prevented the emergency helicopter from Pewter City from flying down to air lift the boy out to the nearest hospital and a journey on foot was completely out of the question as flash floods ravaged the roads. Even the wild Pokémon hid in fear of the harsh and unnatural storms.

There'd also been no trace of the boy's family. A news bulletin had been broadcasted across the country but so far no one had come forward claiming the lost boy as their own. Officer Jenny was doing all she could but without any leads there wasn't much she could do. The folks of Pallet Town offered their support, helping out around the house with the cooking and the cleaning while Ash and his mother tended the boy as best they could. For the most part though, everyone was holed up in their houses as heavy rains and lighting rained down on the town and surrounding area.

That night, as Ash took his turn bathing the boy's burning face, he absently listened to the thunder crashing. Pikachu was curling up beside the boy on top of the covers, where he'd fallen asleep an hour earlier. As he rung out the wet cloth, after dipping it in a bowl of herbal water, he heard the boy stirring slightly in his fever induced sleep. As Ash replaced the damp cloth on the boy's head, the boy thrashed from side to side and began to weakly cry out, his words frightened and pleading.

"I'm sorry… sorry… please… I didn't… it wasn't… no, please no… I'm sorry, please don't…"

As quickly as he started, the boy stopped, sinking back into a fitful sleep. He wasn't sure exactly what the boy had been dreaming of but he was very certain it hadn't been pleasant. And this wasn't the first time the child had cried out during his dreams, it had happened three or four times over the last couple of days. Each time he begged and pleaded with whoever or whatever he saw in his dreams. His mother was quick to pass each episode off as nothing more than fevered dreams, but Ash wasn't so sure.

It was too much of a coincidence when coupled with the other oddities that surrounded the sudden appearance of the boy. The fact that he was in a _known_ dangerous meadow all alone, where being attacked by angry Pokémon was a near certainty. There was also the suspicious lack of contact from the boy's family, the way the boy feared and hated to be touched, and the desperate air about the boy each time he'd tried to escape from the house before he'd succumbed to the fever.

Then there were the scars; the jagged one on the boy's head, a long thin one on his left arm, another thicker one on his side under the left arm, and three or four wide scars about eight inches long on the boy's back – these last ones just barely visible beneath the poorly healing claw marks from the spearows. After that was the boy's painfully thin frame and the pathetic rags he'd been dressed in (though the latter could have been entirely due to the spearows). On top of it all was the infected cut on the boy's hand; it had obviously been there for quite sometime before the boy ended up in the meadow.

Ash rarely ever entertained negative thoughts about people he'd never met, members of the notorious Team Rocket a notable exception, but he was beginning to think the boy's parent's had abused and then abandoned the boy. From the calculating looks Professor Oak directed at the boy a few times, Ash thought he might suspect the same thing.

Several hours later, during the wee hours of the morning, Ash was dozing lightly in his chair beside the bed when he was woken up by a shrill scream from the boy. Jerking around, he found the boy sitting up with his fever glazed eyes wide open staring at something in the middle of the room. The boy's body then began convulsing as a second scream rang out. Frightened that the boy was going to hurt himself more, Ash quickly moved to hold the child down least he hurt himself as he trashed back and forth.

The moment he touched the boy though, an invisible force picked Ash up and threw him across the room, slamming his body painfully into the wall. Ash spat out a mouthful of blood as he groaned; he'd hit the wall hard enough to crack a few ribs and he'd bit his tongue. He was still somewhat dazed from the impact but aware enough to know he needed to get back to the boy. Staggering back to his feet, he wove forward and saw the boy was still in the middle of his seizure.

Halfway back to the bed, Ash was picked up a second time and thrown back into the wall by some sort of telekinetic force. This time he barely stayed conscious as he slumped down onto the floor. On the bed, the boy stopped convulsing finally and as Ash's world began to turn dark, he thought he saw the boy floating above the bed, encased in a bubble of green light. The last thing he heard before he passed out was the desperate cry from the boy begging for his mother.

The next thing Ash knew, he was waking up on the couch downstairs sometime in the late afternoon, if he judged the angle of the sun correctly. His head, chest, and back ached fiercely as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. Looking around, he was somewhat surprised to see his mother and Professor Oak sitting at the table eating lunch with the boy seated awkwardly between them. Frowning, Ash looked closer at the boy, and though he still looked extremely pale and weak, there didn't appear to be anything wrong with him. Ash was stumped, not more then ten or fifteen hours earlier, the boy had practically been on his death bed and now there he sitting at the table picking listlessly at what looked like a cracker.

"Well, good afternoon, sunshine!" Delia cried out cheerfully as she spied her son sitting up on the couch. "We'd been afraid you were planning on sleeping the entire day away."

"Mom?" Ash inquired tightly as he stood up and balanced himself against the back of the couch.

"Ah, we'll discuss it later dear," Delia countered in reply to the unasked question. "Why don't you come sit down and join us for a late lunch. We're having soup."

Confused and wondering if maybe this was some sort of strange dream, Ash worked his way slowly across the room to take the seat directly opposite of the mysterious boy. As his mother set a bowl of soup down in front of him, he couldn't help but notice the nervous way the boy watched his every move through the fringe of hair that hung down over his green eyes as he kept his face angled down.

"How do you feel, Ash?" Professor Oak asked him after a few minutes.

"Like I was run over by a heard of stampeding stantler," Ash quipped around a bite of noodles and carrot. "Hurts a bit to breathe but otherwise I think I'll be fine."

"Ah, yes, I suspect you cracked a rib or two during the night, I wrapped them up for you before Gary helped me carry you down here. You'll need to take it easy for at least a week to allow them to heal."

"That would explain the pain I feel now. Thanks for patching me up," Ash stated calmly. "Do you know what happened? I can't remember anything…" Ash trailed off as he saw the boy cringe in response to his words.

"I'm not surprised that you don't recall, you've got quite a bump on your noggin," Delia supplied as she calmly placed a spoon in the boy's hand and pushed his chair closer to the table.

Ash barely heard his mother's explanation though as an echo of a pained cry echoed through his thoughts. He tilted his head to the side as if to hear the sound better and thought he could hear a child screaming what sounded like 'Mummy'. Shaking his head to clear away the cobwebs he focused back on his soup as the conversation around him faded in and out. As he drank the last of the broth in the bottom of his bowl, Ash got caught in the tortured gaze of the boy sitting directly across from him. The child's eyes were filled with a hundred different emotions, the most prominent of which were abject fear and longing. Looking into his eyes was like getting caught in a whirlpool and by the time the contact was broken, inadvertently by his mother reaching across the table, Ash felt emotionally wrung out.

Swallowing thickly, he avoided glancing in the boy's direction a second time as tried again to recall everything that happened the night before. He knew something had happened, he could recall panicking at something that was affecting the boy, but each time he thought he knew what it was, the memory of it slipped out of reach. Shaking off the bizarre feeling, he thanked his mother for lunch and got up to rinse his dishes in the sink. Finished, he made excuses to the others and stepped outside for a bit of fresh air hoping to clear his mind. He'd barely made it past the door when he was pounced on by a worried Pikachu.

"Hey, Pikachu, what's wrong? Why are you outside? Are you chasing spearows?"

Pikachu shook his head and chattered so rapidly that his words slurred together into meaningless babbles. If Ash had been thinking clearly at that particular moment, he might have realized that his oldest friend was frightened by something. Unfortunately, Ash hadn't completely recovered from his brief battle with the wall the night before and wasn't paying full attention to the overly spooked Pokémon.

He spent a few minutes soothing the agitated Pikachu before he spent a moment checking on Charizard, who was currently napping on the road leading north to Viridian. Ash had heard the rumors of the spearows trying to attack the village at least twice between the various storms over the last few days but apparently it had only been a small handful of rogue Pokémon and not the entire flock. It had been fairly easy to turn the still angry birds away before they caused too much trouble; thanks to Charizard's diligence in guarding the town's perimeter.

Once his head cleared a bit, Ash headed back to his house. He opened the door and paused to allow Pikachu to go in first, only to find the Pokémon cowering away from the door shaking his head. Frowning, Ash tried to coax the suddenly timid Pokémon into the room before giving up and imploring Pikachu to be careful. Wondering what had gotten into Pikachu, Ash entered the house and headed up to his old room. When he opened the door, he was shocked to find the room had been completely destroyed.

"Quite a war zone, isn't it?" Professor Oak queried as he walked up behind Ash and peeked over the younger man's shoulder. "Looks like a dozen Pokémon battles were fought in every corner of the room and on the bed. Your mother found it like this early this morning when she went in to change places with you so you could sleep. You were propped against the wall over there, where the clean patch is, out cold. The boy, well that was even stranger."

The man paused for a moment to collect his thoughts before he continued, "There he was, as fine as could be, lying on top of the charred remains of your bed without a trace of the infection or fever he'd been fighting for the last handful of days. In fact, if not for the newly healed scars on the boy's back and a few on his arms and legs, you wouldn't even know he'd been attacked by wild bird Pokémon just four days ago. Only thing not patched up was the jagged scar on his forehead, you know, that odd thunderbolt shaped one. It was bleeding constantly for three hours until suddenly it closed up all by itself as if nothing had been wrong with it in the first place."

"He cried out in his sleep again last night," Ash recalled suddenly as he stared at the destruction of his room. "A nightmare really, the same one as usual I'd guess from the sounds of his anguished words. It passed quickly and I must have drifted off to sleep at some point just after that because I remember being woken up by a scream. The boy was having convulsions; I so afraid he was dying at that point. What happened next is fuzzy in my mind but I remember being thrown across the room at least twice. And I could see a green, glowing mist surrounding the boy as he floated several feet above the bed. The last thing I heard, before I passed out from the pain, was him calling for what I believe was his mother, only it sounded like mummy, instead of mommy."

Professor Oak studied Ash for several minutes before he ordered, "Go get some sleep, Ash, it's been a rough day and you look like you need the rest."

Ash nodded absently as he stared into the charred room, his thoughts a hundred miles away. A large part of him still believed that this was all just a fevered dream his mind had cooked up from the severe lack of sleep over the last few days.

* * *

><p><strong>AN 12-05-12:<strong>_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._


	6. Disturbing Revelations

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><em><span>Chapter 6: Disturbing Revelations<span>_

_Friday Afternoon, August 09, 2002  
>Ketchum Home, Pallet Town<br>Kanto Region_

The boy stood absolutely still as he hovered in the shadows down the hall from the two men. The woman, Delia, had ordered him to head upstairs and take a bath just a few minutes earlier, after having watched him eat half of the soup she'd placed in front of him for lunch. He'd dared not disobey her requests because he didn't know how angry she'd get and he had no desire to give her a reason to pick him up again (something that had bothered him and made his tummy feel all weird). So, to avoid what he saw as unnecessary contact, the boy had scampered quickly away from the woman and headed up the stairs to find the bathroom.

He'd just stepped into the hallway when he heard the two men talking outside of the room he'd been sleeping in the last several days. Originally he intended to sneak by them without attracting their attention, however all thoughts of rushing past flew from his mind as he heard them speaking about what happened the night before. He mentally reeled as they spoke of the odd things that had happened during the night, he flinched violently when the younger man spoke of the nightmares, and he frowned in confusion at the mention of green mist.

Upon hearing the footsteps heading in his direction, the boy hunkered down deeper into the shadows of a nearby table to avoid being seen. Once the footsteps headed down the stairs, the boy slowly rose back up thinking both of the men had gone back down stairs. So the boy was more than a little startled when he rounded the table he'd ducked behind and came face to face with the younger man just turning away from the ruined room. Letting out a strangled 'eep' the boy quickly backtracked away from the man only to trip over a wrinkle in the rug.

"Careful there, Sport, you don't want to take a tumble down the stairs now."

The boy just stared up at him uncertainly for a minute before darting his eyes to the left and right in search of an escape route and checking for the presence of lurking monsters. When it appeared the hallway was empty except for the two of them and the only way to escape was back down the stairs where Delia was working in the kitchen, the boy's shoulders slumped dejectedly as he looked back at the man.

He was a bit surprised to find the man sitting on the floor just a few feet away, watching him intently. Nervous, he ducked his head down and played with the hem of the borrowed shirt he was wearing. Thinking of the shirt only made him feel even more uncomfortable though, because it felt too constricting. He was used to the extra bagginess of his cousin's castoffs and the clothes he was wearing practically hugged him and chaffed roughly against his barely healed skin, even though the fabric was much softer than the clothes his aunt usually gave him to wear.

"You know," the man drawled suddenly, pulling the boy out of his woolgathering. "I don't think we've been properly introduced. My name is Ash Ketchum. You might have heard of me, I'm the world famous Pokémon Trainer, Multi-League Champion of five different regions, and the youngest Gym Leader of the Slateport City Gym in the Hoenn Region." The confused child just kept staring at the man with a blank face, the numerous titles meaning nothing to him. "You've not heard of me, have you?" The boy shook his head no. "Oh, well that's alright I suppose. You must be too young to follow the Pokémon News. Any way, it's not really all the big of deal if you didn't know me. Do you think you could tell me your name now?"

The boy suddenly found the shirt he was wearing very interesting once again as he rolled and unrolled the bottom edge while avoiding eye contact with Ash. He didn't like his name. He knew it wasn't his real name, despite what his relatives told him, but it was the name his aunt, uncle, and cousin had called him for as long as he could remember. He really didn't want these strangers calling him that name now too. Wishing he could hide, the boy curled in on himself and sniffled as he fought against the tears that suddenly burned his eyes.

"You know, I can't just keep calling you sport or champ all the time. If we're out in a crowd all the other kids might think I was talking to them. I promise not to laugh," Ash cajoled softly.

Looking up through his bangs, the boy pinned Ash with heartbroken eyes that glistened with unshed tears. The young man swallowed thickly as he tried to understand the unspoken message that was being sent to him. Several minutes later, the boy finally jerked his gaze away and hiccuped around a sob as he whispered, "I don't have one."

"How can you not have a name? Everyone has a name," Ash shot back incredulously.

The boy flinched away from the tone and awkwardly crab-walked backwards to put a little more distance between the two of them. "I don't."

"Your parents didn't name you when you were born?" The boy shook his head no again, not wanting to think about his long absent parents. "No? No they didn't name you or no you weren't born?" This question only got a half hearted shrug for a reply. "Oh, I suppose you're going to tell me now that your parents found you under a rock, in the light of a full moon, fully grown?"

This teasing shot hit far too close to home for the boy and his tears slipped freely down his face as he glared at the man. His aunt had taken perverse pleasure in reminding the boy at every turn that he hadn't been wanted; that he'd been dumped on their front porch without as much as a by-your-leave in the middle of the night with nothing but the clothes on his back. Sometimes, when she'd been drinking too much wine, she'd even tell him that his parents were still alive and that they'd dumped him on their porch because they hadn't wanted him because he was such a freak. The rest of the time she would tell him that his parents had died in a car crash because they were stupid enough to drink and drive.

He didn't want to believe either story and had wished every night that some unknown relative would come rescue him from his horrible aunt, her wretched husband, and their bully of a son. No one ever came for him though. Those thoughts made him angry all of a sudden and he squeezed his tiny hands into fists as he continued to glare up at Ash.

"No!" the boy yelled out resentfully when his emotions spiraled out of his control. "I was dumped ona porch 'cause they're dead and didn't want me! And I don't wanna name. I don't need no more stupid names." By this time the boy was crying so hard he could barely see the look of shock on the man's face. It wouldn't have mattered if he could see it anyway, for the boy had been suppressing his anger over the unfair and cruel treatment he'd received at the hands of his family for a long time and now that he was finally letting it out he couldn't stop the outpouring of emotions even if he wanted to. "I'm not a freak! I'm not stupid! I don't lie, don't steal, and don't do the bad things they say I do. I didn't do anything! I don't care that nobody wants me. I don't care that everyone hates me! And I don't care what anyone says, _my name is __**not**__ Freak!_"

Spent and exhausted from the outburst, the boy buried his face in his hands as his tiny body jerked back and forth all the while still repeating the words, 'not Freak', over and over again as he continued to sob brokenly.

Unseen by the boy on the stairs behind him, though in clear view of the still shell-shocked Ash, were Delia and Professor Oak. The aging Professor was wearing a blank mask as he stared down at the boy while Ash's mother's expression was completely horrified by the abrupt and angry confession from their tiny guest.

* * *

><p>Ash couldn't believe his ears. All he had hoped to do was coax the boy into giving them his name so they could pass it on to Officer Jenny to help her track down his missing family. And even though he suspected the boy hadn't been treated very well, it was a huge shock to have some of his fears and concerns confirmed in such a manner.<p>

Gathering his wits, Ash pushed closer to the trembling boy and gently scooped him into his arms. He breathed a soft and silent sigh of relief when the boy didn't flinch at his touch or fight to break free for the first time since he'd rescued the boy from the wild spearows. Softly he began murmuring soft praises and words of comfort as he rubbed the boys back while rocking from side to side, drawing on his years of soothing both temperamental and wounded Pokémon to calm the boy. Eventually, the child relaxed in his arms and drifted off to sleep, his tear-stained face buried against Ash's belly.

"How could anyone be so cruel?" Delia whispered through her tears as she slowly finished walking up the stairs. "Why would anyone say such cruel things to such a young child? What purpose does it serve?"

"There is no reason for such senseless cruelty," Professor Oak woodenly muttered as he helped Ash up off the floor. "It was said strictly to inflict cruelty for cruelty's sake with the sole intent to make the child feel worthless. Such malice is simply one of the many tragic flaws in human nature that raises its ugly head every so often, though small towns like ours rarely see it. Careful not to strain yourself, Ash, I'm sure those ribs of yours won't thank you if you bruise them further."

"I'll be fine, professor, the little mite doesn't weigh much more than Pikachu right after a huge feast."

"Well, you still need to be careful, dear," Delia admonished. "Now, why don't you take him down stairs so the two of you can relax on the couch? I'll bring down some pillows and the sleeping bags in a bit so you both can camp out on the living room floor for at least tonight, and maybe tomorrow night if I can't get your room cleaned up."

"Don't worry about the room, mom, I'll take care of it first thing in the morning. I'm sure everything but the mattress, bedding, and the floor rug can be salvaged. The rest just needs a bit of elbow grease to clear the soot off."

"If you're feeling up to it the morning, dear, if not Mr. Mime and I can probably get it done in the afternoon, after we clean up the messes in the flower beds from the latest storm."

"Well, I best be going now," Professor Oak interjected into what looked to become a friendly family competition of who would do which chores. "I've a call to put out to Officer Jenny about our diminutive friend here... say, Ash, by any chance, did you happen to recognize the little tyke's accent?"

"I can't say that I did, Professor," Ash replied as he headed down the stairs. "Sounded like nothing I'd ever heard before. Part of that could be because he was so upset but even that wouldn't account for the way he seemed to cut some of the words short or mash one or more of them together. Of course, his age might play a factor in that too, but it would be hard to say from how little he's spoken to any of us."

"Well, it was worth a shot. Let me know if you discover anything else about where he's from or who he lives with. Oh, and before I forget, I'll be heading out to Goldenrod at the end of the week, I have a show scheduled for all of next week and I plan on visiting Professor Elm afterwards."

Delia and Ash bid the professor farewell before heading off in different directions; Delia to search out spare pillows and bedding for the boys to use downstairs and Ash down stairs to settle onto the couch for a much needed nap. Once he was standing in front of the couch, Ash was faced with a bit of a dilemma. Did he tuck the kid between the back of the couch and himself or did he lie down on his back and hold the boy in his arms? Put the boy in a position where he might feel trapped or give the boy the opportunity to sneak off if he woke up first?

In the end, he opted to lie down on his back along the front edge of the couch and drape the boy over his chest so that the child was cradled in the space between his body and the back of the couch. This left the boy the freedom to get down if he wanted but allowed Ash some warning in the event that the boy woke first. As he drifted off to sleep, he heard the tired mutterings of Pikachu as the electric mouse Pokémon climbed in through one of the open windows and curled up on the arm of the couch above Ash's head.

* * *

><p><em>Friday Morning, August 02, 1985<br>Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts Castle  
><em>Scotland<em>  
><em>

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, Grand Sorcerer, Order of Merlin (first class), Creator of the Order of the Phoenix, vaunted Leader of the Light, Defeater of the Dark Wizard Grindelwald and esteemed Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, sat at his opulent desk high in the Headmaster's Tower within Hogwarts reading the latest issue of _'The Adventures of Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle'_ while nibbling on Sherbet Lemons.

This was Albus's favorite time of the year. School was out for the summer, the sniveling pre-teens and brown-nosing near-adults were out of his hair for another blissful four weeks and the rest of the staff were off doing who-cared-what in distant lands. It was the one time of year that he could let his hair down, so to speak, and enjoy the peaceful solitude that he so craved after two dreadfully long school terms. There was nothing more annoying than a castle full of blubbering, weak-willed, wanna-a-be sorcerers and sorceresses demanding attention and respect for achieving mediocrity – except maybe whining politicians who couldn't find their way out of an empty cauldron with a map.

Yes, despite his many titles, Albus Dumbledore did not mix well with other people, especially the very young and the very stupid. And to a wizard as old and as intelligent as Dumbledore, everyone else was much too young and far too stupid to be tolerated. The only people Albus hated even more than the young and stupid were the young and brilliant. There was nothing that threatened his way of life more than overly bright witches and wizards with the talent and power to usurp his rightful place in the world. The aged wizard had met quite a few of these troublesome types throughout his lifetime.

The first such individual was a peer of his by the name of Gellert Grindelwald, the 'Dark Wizard' that Dumbledore had defeated in the mid-forties. Albus had met and befriended Gellert after graduating with honors from Hogwarts and in the beginning the two had been fast friends. The moment Gellert began to outshine Albus though, the friendship turned sour and Albus spent nearly fifty years tarnishing his former friend's name and reputation before 'taking him out'. This fraudulent performance thrust the known genius (and current professor at Hogwarts) into the spotlight and Albus basked in the glory he felt he deserved.

About the same time he met another young wizard that showed great promise, a young lad by the name of Tom Marvolo Riddle. Hoping to avoid a long drawn out smear campaign, Albus attempted to squash the suspected descendant of Salazar Slytherin before he finished out his last two years at Hogwarts. The plan backfired though, and the boy grew suspicious of Dumbledore enough that he avoided the older wizard until he finished school, at which point he disappeared for several years until Dumbledore caught up with him in Albania.

By this time, Dumbledore had begun dabbling in the Dark Arts and used his new found talents to enslave the younger wizard and force him to become the next Dark Lord. After all, what better way was there to keep his fame and the adoration of the wizarding public than defeating another Dark Wizard? After setting Riddle on his path of destruction, Albus returned to England in time to trick Armando Dippet, the then Headmaster of Hogwarts, into retiring early and passing the title of Headmaster to Albus. Armando then died a quiet death before his duplicity was discovered. Right around the same time, Albus had also just been appointed to the position of Supreme Mugwump.

Things were going swimmingly; Riddle – now called Voldemort – was gathering a flock of incompetent followers, the educational standards were slowly being lowered world wide to make all the stupid people look far smarter than they actually were, and Albus was firmly entrenched as a bastion of light.

All through the fifties and sixties, Albus had successfully crushed a dozen possible rivals from behind the scenes, spread numerous rumors of the rising Dark Lord Voldemort, and finally secured the position of Chief Warlock. Things took a turn for the worse in the early seventies though, when seven exceptionally bright students began their first year at Hogwarts. Six of the seven were even sorted into the same house, Gryffindor, while the seventh was placed in Slytherin. The lone snake had been easy to neutralize, given the dark reputation the House of the Serpent had gained through the years thanks to Dumbledore's machinations.

The other six proved to be far more difficult, in spite of the fact that one of the six was a Dark Creature that Dumbledore had allowed into the school in the hopes of promoting some new anti-werewolf laws after the foolish boy attacked his fellow students. The boy proved to be far too careful with his condition though and had even managed to make friends that were willing to help him. Then there was the several times great-grandson and only heir of a rather famous couple that he'd been trying to use as leverage against said grandparents without much success; an annoying brat just like his father and his grandfather before him.

The biggest threat to his world though was the highly intelligent muggleborn, Lily Evans. The little witch had reached and surpassed nearly all of Dumbledore's records as she practically breezed through her studies. She'd even dared to invent a new spell, under the tutelage of Filius Flitwick, before her final year, a feat Dumbledore had not accomplished during his tenure as a student of Hogwarts. Time and time again, each of Dumbledore's attempts to neutralize the girl failed. The little chit had even dared to thumb her nose at him by marrying one of the other overachievers that he'd been trying to discredit at every turn; worse yet was that the wizard she married was the heir of the famous couple.

With his focus turned towards the newest threat to his way of life, Dumbledore's control on his molded weapon slipped enough to allow Riddle to escape his grasp completely again. The old wizard would regret this momentary lapse as the now uncontrolled Dark Lord went on a violent rampage that Dumbledore was hard pressed to contain. Yet the final straw didn't come until nearly two years after the brilliant witch graduated Hogwarts though, when the wretched girl and her husband dared to give life to a child. Albus had known the blasted spawn of the two gifted magicals would grow up to be a problem the moment he'd laid eyes on the ugly child. Barely a week old and the brat already had an aura that just pulsed with power.

A year and a half after the child was born, Dumbledore finally managed to turn his luck around again. A false prophecy brought to light, a spy in the circle of friends that surrounded the child's parents, and a panicking Dark Lord collided in beautiful destruction on All Hallows Eve in nineteen eighty-one. The only hiccup in his plan was the child; somehow the little brat had survived the night despite the odds being stacked against him. To add insult to injury, the sniveling wretch had the gall to vanquish Dumbledore's Dark Lord. Even worse, because the world now saw the tiny toddler as a hero (thanks to a loose lipped half-giant), he couldn't just dump the boy off a cliff.

So, in a stroke of brilliance, Dumbledore had tracked down the most despicable family of non-magical people he could find and set about planting the false memories of an estranged sister of the boy's mother. A few well placed spells ensured that the pair would harbor a combination of disgust and fear for the child in the hopes that they'd finish the child for him somewhere down the line. Special wards placed around the property would prevent outsiders from barging in to protect the child from his 'relatives' and made it impossible for his still surviving several times great grandparents from finding him. In order to keep a close watch on the boy's eventual destruction, he placed several monitoring spells on the child and tied them to a series of devices that currently sat in his office using blood magic.

He also placed power suppression and draining runes all around the edge of the property to keep the boy's magic drained to a more manageable level to prevent accidental outbursts from interfering. He would have bound the boy's magical core as well but doing so would have created a recipe for disaster because such bindings usually degraded over time and allowed the core to expand and grow. The only negative aspect of using the wards to drain the boy's power was that it created a constant flow of magic through the boy which meant his magic would eventually flow far easier than normal but at least it wouldn't increase the size of the boy's inner core.

A positive side effect of using the draining runes was that the magic siphoned off from the child could be used to power the wards around the property allowing the wards to be maintained indefinitely as long as the boy spent at least a month inside of the house; which meant there'd be far fewer chances of the boy's magic saving him from the revulsion hexes that he'd used on the vile muggles. For the last three and a half years, his wards and runes had kept the boy contained and manageable. Periodic checks over the years had given Albus the satisfaction of knowing that his position in the wizarding society had been secured for the time being. Because of this overconfidence, Albus indulged in his only two vices; eating muggle candies and reading the latest issue of his favorite comic book.

On this warm summer's morning, as he put yet another of the sour yellow treats in his mouth, one of his monitoring devices gave out a loud whistle and began pouring red smoke out of several vents. The interruption startled Albus and he immediately began choking on the sherbet he'd just placed in his mouth until he managed to cough the thing out onto the comic book, ruining the page he'd been in the process of reading.

Hurrying over to the table, with his anger barely in check, the aged wizard studied the smoke from the device that monitored Harry Potter's location and life signs. The device normally shot off tiny puffs of white smoke, indicating that the boy was alive and where he belonged. The huge, red, billowing clouds it shot off now told him that the boy had vanished from his home, magically; something that should have been impossible due to the wards and suppression runes. He knew the wretched brat was still alive though, because the smoke would have turned black if he'd died.

Roaring out in frustration, Albus called Fawkes (a dove he'd transfigured to look like a phoenix that wore a permanent, reusable and programmable portkey) to him and activated the portkey the moment he grabbed hold of the bird's tail. The pair of them landed in the back yard of one Arabella Figg, a senile old squib that Albus had moved into the neighborhood to keep an eye on the young Potter. The batty old woman was far too wrapped up in her many cats to pay too close attention to what was going on a few streets over (it wouldn't have been wise to have her living too close to the boy after all) and her presence satisfied those who wished for the child to be protected and watched over by a 'member' of the Phoenix Order.

Albus then spent the next ten hours studying the family's memories in an effort to determine how the boy had escaped and if he had help. He found nothing suspicious in their minds though. There'd been no strange people knocking on the door or hanging about in the area and there'd been no trace of magic from the boy's cupboard under the stairs where the child had been locked up just the night before. In fact, the family had apparently forgotten all about the child some two days earlier because they hadn't even known he'd gone missing until Dumbledore had arrived.

Enraged by the lack of clues, Dumbledore summoned his fake phoenix to his side and returned to Hogwarts so he could start sifting through the list of individuals that had the power, money, and intelligence to pull off the rescue. He'd start by checking up on Sirius Black, the boy's imprisoned (and innocent) godfather, before checking on the tamed werewolf that used to hang around with the boy's parents. From there he'd have to make the rounds of the Auror Department of the Ministry and the families of the various Order of the Phoenix Members that had been close to the boy's parents.

As soon as he found the child, Dumbledore was going to bury the brat in an active volcano along with the person who had taken him.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> _And queue evil Dumbledore! Now… I know I'm not the first to have used Dumbledore to set up Tom and Gellert as evil wizards when they weren't, so I won't even try to claim that as my own idea but I've only read a handful of fics that do so and they were my inspirations. This was also my first shot a writing a truly EVIL Dumbledore so I hope he didn't come off as a pale imitation of something evil… I mean I really liked Dumbledore right up until book five, six, and seven and I still think canon Dumbledore was more misguided than evil but I wanted to write something completely different than anything else I'd written to date. _

_And yes, the transfigured Fawkes was intentional… I've seen the phoenix bound to Dumbledore through dark rituals and spells too many times and wanted to do something different. Don't know if anyone has used that idea before or not 'cause I've read so many fics they all tend to blur together. Anywho… I hope you enjoyed the chapter. =) ~ Jenn_

**AN 12-06-12:**_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._


	7. Cooperation of a Sort

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><em><span>Chapter 7: Cooperation of a Sort<span>_

_Saturday Morning, August 10, 2002  
>Ketchum Home, Pallet Town<br>Kanto Region_

The remnants of a strange yet soothing dream slowly faded from the boy's conscious mind as he gradually woke up. Unconsciously, he burrowed deeper into the bed as he fought against waking up because he felt so warm and safe. He frowned and voiced a protest when his pillow wiggled out from under him only to bolt up in fear as the unnaturalness of moving pillows sank into his sleep fogged mind.

Heart pounding wildly, the boy stared wide-eyed at the frozen yellow creature that he'd been using as a pillow just seconds earlier. He was so focused on the miniature monster that he didn't even register the arms that had tightened around his waist as his mattress shifted beneath him. His body began trembling with fright as the creature slowly climbed higher and he was forced to crane his neck awkward in order to track its progress across the back of the couch.

As he twisted around to keep an eye on the animal, a groan issued forth from somewhere just beneath him. Bewildered, the boy jerked back around and met the sleepy brown eyes of the younger man from before staring up at him, the one called Ash. It was at this point that he registered the fact that the man was holding him in his arms and soon came to the conclusion that he'd been sleeping on top of the man. At the same time, his outburst from the night before came barreling back from the depths of his sub-consciousness and he immediately began to apologize and beg for forgiveness while trying to push free from the man's grasp.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell. I'm sorry, please, don't be mad. Please don't lock me in my cupboard! I'm really, really sorry and it won't happen again, I promise. Just please don't…"

When he felt one of the man's hands run up his back, he immediately stopped speaking and froze in place. He fully expected to be given the spanking of a lifetime or to be cuffed upside the back of his head before being locked in his cupboard for the rest of the day (forgetting that he was no longer at his aunt and uncle's house). Squeezing his eyes shut, he held his breath and waited fearfully for the expected blow to land only to twitch in surprise as the hand simply ran soothingly up and down his back. Gradually, the pounding in his ears subsided enough for him to make out the soft shushing hum that the man was emitting as he gently rubbed his back.

The calming touch conflicted with everything the boy had previously experienced in his short life. His aunt and uncle had _never_ consoled him in such a gentle manner before; the two adults that had raised him for most of his life were far more likely to express their displeasure through touch rather than offer comfort. That's if they even bothered to touch him at all. So, just the thought of being comforted, by a complete stranger no less, baffled the child as he held himself perfectly still. The fact that part of him wished the man would never stop scared him even more and sent a tremor through his small body. He knew better than to think that the man cared for him; he'd been told just how worthless and unlovable he was time and time again.

Tentatively the boy opened his eyes to stare down at the man and was more than a bit perplexed to find the man was smiling up at him now. Frowning, he strained back against the arms that were holding him to test how securely he was being held in place only to feel the arms move away from him completely. The sudden change made him stop in place and tilt his head to the side in a silent question; his green eyes wide with uncertainty and trepidation.

"You are free to get up, I was just protecting my ribs," Ash explained. "You have sharp elbows."

"Pika!" the small yellow monster called out in seeming agreement from the top of the couch.

The sharp reminder of what woke him up broke the fragile peace of the moment as the boy darted off his awkward perch and practically flew over the top of the coffee table. He was halfway to the front door when he glanced over his shoulder to find the man just a few steps behind him, giving chase. He turned back around just in time to slide around a delicate looking table standing directly in his path, only to end up over balancing onto his side as he continued to slide across the polished wood floors. Bracing his arms protectively over the top of his head, he closed his eyes and held his breath as he slammed into one of the kitchen chairs.

When he opened his eyes up once again it was to find the man standing above him with his hands on his hips shaking his head back and forth. "It's never a dull moment with you around, is it kid?"

The boy just blinked a few times before going limp as he let his head thump back to the floor with a dull thunk. "The monsters scare me," he admitted weakly. "I don't want them to hurt me again."

"Monsters? What monsters?"

"All the monsters. Those ugly birds, the shock-mouse, the big hungry dragon, the devil-man, and the blue thing with the flower and green ropes; the big ones keep trying to eat me and the little ones all keep hurting me."

"Most of those creatures you just named are just Pokémon; they may be big and look a touch scary but they won't hurt you. I have no idea what you mean by shock-mouse and devil-man though. And the birds, well those were wild Pokémon and they only attacked because you were in their meadow. Everyone knows you can't walk through Berry Meadow alone without your own Pokémon – or I thought everyone knew that. Not all Pokémon will attack people on sight though, especially not those that have been raised by trainers."

"They do too!" the boy shouted in protest. "The yellow rat 'lect'cuted me! And the nasty dragon tried to eat me!"

"Lect'cuted? What do you… oh! Electrocuted? How…? Oh, Pikachu must have been too close to you when he shocked the spearows to chase them off. He didn't do it on purpose; his Thunder Attacks are pretty powerful because he's been with me for such a long time. Charizard, the orange dragon Pokémon, wasn't trying to eat you either. He was just curious about you and wanted to be introduced. All my Pokémon love being around children and the children usually love them too. Surely you've seen other Pokémon that you must like, right?"

"I don't like them. I've never seen monsters like them before."

"Never seen…?" Ash repeated in shock. "You've never seen any Pokémon before? That's… that's impossible. Pokémon live all around us, there isn't a river, lake, forest, meadow, desert, or mountain cave that doesn't have _some_ type of Pokémon living in it. There are even wild Pokémon that live in the cities and towns. How could you not have seen one before?"

Before the child could open his mouth to reply, Delia walked in the front door shaking dirt and mud from her shoes. The older woman smiled when she looked in their direction and asked Ash to make breakfast for the two of them before ordering the boy to go take the bath he'd avoided the night before.

The boy grimaced and scrambled to his feet to comply, knowing it would be better to do as asked instead of risking the woman's ire (something he'd learned the hard way living with his aunt). As he headed towards the stairs, he happened to get a glimpse of Mr. Mime entering the house behind Delia and he let out a strangled scream before he fled to the upper floor at a dead run. The devil-man scared him more than the shock-mouse did; because his relatives had frequently terrorized the small boy with the most horrible stories about the things the devil did to 'freaks' like him.

He didn't stop running until he reached the end of the upstairs hallway. Finding no way to escape, the boy swung back around to face the direction from which he had come and dropped to the floor to see if the scary monster man had followed him. After several minutes, when it became clear that he was still all alone in the hallway, he slowly relaxed and climbed back up to his feet, though he could still feel his heart pounding away like a jackhammer inside of his chest.

Timidly, he edged over to the left side of the hall and inched forward to the closest door. A quick peek inside revealed a girly bedroom with lots of flowers and frills. Shifting the other side of the hall way he checked the next door and found an office with lots of books and more flowers. He checked the rest of the rooms leading off the hall in the same fashion until he found the bathroom.

Slipping inside, he closed the door tightly and checked the handle for a lock, only to find that the door didn't have one. Nervously, he watched the door for a full five minutes until he heard Delia hollering up the stairs that she couldn't hear the water running. Jumping at the reminder of why he was in the bathroom in the first place, the boy abruptly turned away from the door and made his way over to the rather ordinary blue bathtub that was in the room.

A short search turned up the plug for the drain and after jamming it into place he turned on the cold water and intently watched the water cascade into the tub. When the water level reached approximately two inches in depth, the boy turned off the water and searched for a wash cloth. After finding one, he set it on the edge of the tub before stripping out of his borrowed clothes so he could climb inside.

Teeth chattering loudly from the chill of the water, the boy meticulously used his hands to get his entire body wet. Next, he picked up the bar of soap he spotted in the soap dish and got it wet so he could lather his hands enough to wash his arms and legs. He was just finishing his first leg when the door unexpectedly burst open as Delia stepped inside the bathroom.

"I didn't hear you fill the tub so I thought you might need a bit…" Delia trailed off as she took in the sight of the boy shivering in just a few inches of water. "What are you…?" Stepping forward she reached in and tested the water only to gasp in shock at how cold it was. "Why didn't you use the hot water, dear? You're freezing!"

"Not 'lowed," the boy muttered, "it's 'gainst the rules."

"Against the rules!? What? I don't… how could… _why_!?" Delia spluttered indignantly. "Never mind, I don't think I want to know. Just… just… while you are here, with us, you are required to take baths with warm or hot water. And bubbles. Bubbles are mandatory for all proper baths. Budge away from the faucet, I'll fix the water for you this time, but I expect you to remember to do it properly when you have your bedtime bath tonight, so pay attention. First, we turn on the hot water to warm up the pipes. Then we slowly add the cold water until the temperature is just perfect."

"While the water is running, we add a full cap – and I do mean a completely full cap, no scrimping allowed – of the bubble mix and you pour it right under the running water to get the best suds. See how nicely they fluff up? Now, did you find the extra towels?" Wide eyed, he nodded stiltedly as he reached out and pointed at the wash cloth with one trembling finger. "Oh, good, you got a face cloth out already but you should have taken a towel too."

Completely bewildered, the boy watched as Delia pulled out one of the extra large white towels and set it on the seat cover of the toilet before dunking the face cloth (the one the boy had intended on drying himself off with) into the frothy water and lather it with soap before proceeding to gently scrub his back with said cloth. When she finished, she turned off the faucet now that the water level reached well above the child's belly button with the bubbles tickling his armpits. She took a moment to rinse the soap from his back before she leaned back and eyed him critically.

"One last thing, I fully expect you to spend at least an hour in here splashing around, soaking the floor and getting the bubbles stuck all over the walls. I will be most disappointed if you try to sneak out of the water early or refuse to enjoy the bath as it is meant to be enjoyed. I'll come and check on you when your time is up with a fresh change of clothes for you."

And then she left, gathering up the clothes he'd been wearing on her way out, leaving him with his mouth hanging open in shock. She had ordered him to make a mess and have _fun_ in the tub? She _wanted_ him to use lots of water, lots of _hot_ water? And bubbles? She was making him use extra bubbles in his bath? Lifting up a bubble coated hand he stared at it in wonder. Not even his cousin had ever been allowed or encouraged to make a mess in the bathroom. The bathroom, in his relative's house, was the second most sacred room in the house; the most important room naturally being the kitchen.

A hysterical giggle bubbled up in his chest as he slowly reached out with his suds covered hand and smeared the bubbles all over the pale blue tiles that covered the walls that butted up against three sides of the tub. He half cringed after he finished, expecting to hear his aunt storm into the room and begin screeching at him. When nothing bad happened, the boy lifted his foot above the steaming water and let it drop back with a wimpy splash. The waves that small movement made rocked the boy gently and caused the bubbles to hit him in the face.

He didn't feel brave enough to soak the floor as he'd been instructed to but he did end up painting several foam pictures on the longest wall. Huge lumpy mountains of suds filled the corners and clung to the faucet. He even had a jaunty pointed hat on top of his head that wobbled dangerously from side to side each time he turned his head. He also had the tiniest of smiles on his face, the first one he'd worn since he'd been attacked by the spearows.

At the end of the hour Delia walked in and studied his half-hearted mess with a jaundiced eye before telling him to pull the plug out of the drain so she could help him rinse off the remaining suds. She also told him she was proud of him and the attempt he made at making a mess but at the same time told him she expected a bigger mess that evening when he had another bath before bed. Once free from suds, Delia wrapped the thick towel around the boy and lifted him out of the tub. She then took a second towel and used it to dry his damp hair before she told him to finish drying off and get dressed so he could eat breakfast.

Downstairs he found Ash sitting at the table with an odd hand held machine that was talking out loud. In front of the chair beside the man, there was a plate of waffles smothered in maple syrup with whipped cream, sliced bananas, and strawberries on top. There was also a frosted glass of milk and a tall glass of orange juice sitting beside the plate. When he reached the table, the boy hesitated. He didn't see a plate of dry toast or a bowl of thin, bland porridge, the type of food his relatives usually fed him. In fact, the only food visible was the delicious looking stack of waffles that looked more like an ice cream sundae than a meal.

"Come on, don't be shy, your breakfast is getting cold and my special waffle sundaes taste best when they're still warm," Ash advised as he glanced up from the device to look at the boy while he patted the chair beside him.

Timidly the boy crept around the table and slid into the indicated chair and took a good long look at the glorious treat sitting in front of him. In an awed whisper, he nervously asked, "This is all for me?"

"Just for you. I already had one of my own."

Picking up the fork he speared one of the banana slices swimming in syrup and whipped cream and took a small bite. The boy was in heaven. It tasted even better than the sweet berry like fruits he'd found in the meadow that first day. Next he sampled a bite of strawberry and moaned rapturously as he chewed slowly. Completely unaware of the scrutiny that the man beside him directed his way, the boy continued to nibble on his breakfast with tightly controlled gusto. He made each bite he took a random combination of fruit, cream, syrup, and crispy waffle that was savored in near silent bliss.

He'd eaten nearly a full quarter of the large meal before his tummy felt uncomfortably full. Never before had he ever eaten so much in one sitting. In fact, the sugary-sweet concoction was beginning to upset his stomach. Closing his eyes, the boy bent over to rest his head on the edge of the table while his hands instinctively wrapped protectively around his churning stomach. Huge tears pooled behind his eyelids as he desperately fought the growing nausea.

Ash was beside his chair in a heartbeat, the man's calloused hand rubbing gentle circles on his back. "Easy there, Champ, slow deep breaths and try to relax."

Two minutes later, the boy lost the battle and emptied his stomach down onto the floor. The man never flinched as he was splashed by the mess, nor did he yell at the boy for wasting the food. Instead, the man simply continued to comfort the boy as his body gradually stopped shaking and heaving.

"I'm so sorry, Buddy, I didn't know the waffles would be too much for your tummy to handle. Come here; let me get you cleaned up."

The brief warning was all he got as strong arms lifted him out of the chair and carried him over to the sink. Confused green eyes watched as the man ran the water until it was warm and wet the corner of a dish towels that he then used to gently wipe the boy's face and chin clean, taking careful care to also clean the sticky remains of syrup and dried cream from his hands as well. Next he lowered the boy onto his feet and helped him step out of the soiled pants before lifting him back up into his arms.

Ash placed the boy in the corner of the couch and wrapped him up in one of the blankets they'd used the night before, and told him to wait there while he went back into the kitchen to clean up the mess. The boy watched the man as best he could without his glasses, which wasn't easy because everything was pretty fuzzy around the edges, and the further away what he saw was, the blurrier it appeared to be. He was also confused as to why he wasn't being required to clean up his own mess.

About twenty minutes later, the man was back at his side with a plate of lightly buttered toast, a few plain strawberries, and a glass of water. "If your tummy has settled enough, I'd like you to try eating a little something again."

"I'm sorry I wasted your food."

"Hey, none of that now; it wasn't your fault. No one is blaming you for being sick to your stomach because the food was too rich for your tummy after you were ill for so long. We'll just have to be a little more conservative with how much sugar or heavy cream gets put in your food for the time being."

Under the watchful eyes of Ash, the child slowly nibbled away at two slices of toast, a single strawberry, and drank about a third of the water. Thankfully, the man didn't try to talk or force him into finishing the rest.

* * *

><p><strong>AN 12-06-12:<strong>_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._


	8. The Game of Questions

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><em><span>Chapter 8: The Game of Questions<span>_

_Saturday Morning, August 10, 2002  
>Ketchum Home, Pallet Town<br>Kanto Region_

After watching the boy eat as much as he felt comfortable with, Ash gathered his device from the table and sat down beside the boy so both of them would be able to see the small television screen at the top of the machine.

"This here is my PokéNav; it's like a small computer that I always carry with me wherever I go," Ash explained as he took note of the boy's puzzled look. "This handy little gadget has a built in cell phone – so I can call home any time I want, no matter where I am. It tells me how all of my Pokémon are doing and what kind of condition they are in, and it keeps track of every trainer I have ever battled. It also has a digital map of every region I have been to. I thought maybe you could show me on the map, where you live. Or if you tell me the name of the city where you live I can look it up on the PokéNav."

"I don't live here and I don't want to go back," the boy replied cryptically as he pulled his legs up onto the couch.

The oddness of that statement, combined with the earlier admission from the boy that he'd never before seen a single Pokémon, completely stumped Ash. He'd traveled far and wide for nine long years, met hundreds of new people, battled thousands of Pokémon, and solved too many mysteries to count. Yet this one boy continued to baffle him at every turn. The child was such a bundle of contradictions all wrapped into a seemingly innocent package and he just didn't know what to do about it. Years ago, when he was a brash rookie trainer, Ash would have just forced the issue in order to solve the mystery. Only time and Pokémon had taught Ash patience and restraint over the years and in recent years that usually gave him a clear advantage in any situation.

"No one is saying anything about making you go back, Sport," Ash calmly explained. "We're just trying to figure out how you ended up in Berry Meadow all by your lonesome. We still don't even know your name, and I remember quite clearly our discussion last night on that topic, but we can't just keep calling you champ, sport, or hey you. So any hint or clue you can give us will help us figure out what happens next."

Ash watched the boy further curl up in the corner of the couch and waited with baited breath to see if the boy would give him any new information. The boy's immediate future hung in the balance right now. Officer Jenny had called while the boy was in the tub and she hadn't been able to give them any good news. The authorities had decided that the boy needed to be entered into the foster care system and placed in one of the boarding schools with other children his age.

The only reason they'd waited this long to collect him was the combination of the boy's health and the unpredictable weather. Unless they were able to gather any information that would lead to the boy's family, there wasn't any chance of putting off or canceling the boy's relocation. Instinct was telling Ash that things would go terribly wrong if the boy was entered into the system. Common sense also screamed that the boy wouldn't interact well with if surrounded by a bunch of strangers. Heck, the boy had freaked out repeatedly from the moment he first opened his eyes after the attack. And that wasn't even mentioning the boy's phobia of all things Pokémon.

When it became clear the boy wasn't going to respond, Ash turned off the PokéNav and set it gently on the coffee table before addressing the boy once more. "How about we play a game? I'll ask you a question and if you know the answer you tell me and if you don't we skip that one and go onto the next. When we're done, we can do whatever you'd like. Do you think you can maybe give it a try?" The boy gave a halfhearted shrug that Ash took as an agreement. "Wonderful, let me go grab a pen and paper and we'll get started so we'll have all afternoon to do what you want to do."

Five minutes later, Ash was sitting on the floor beside the table with a small stack of blank paper and two pens. Looking up, he noticed the boy was watching him with nervous green eyes. Giving the child a reassuring smile, Ash picked up one of the pens and asked the first question; "What's your favorite color?"

The boy's eyebrows rose in surprise, not expecting that to be one of the questions. The kid pursed his lips for a moment, obviously thinking about the question, before giving his answer. "Green."

"Ah, like your eyes? Good choice. Let's see… can you tell me what your favorite food is?"

The noninvasive line of questioning continued for some time until the boy began to relax, questions of things he liked or disliked, if he had any pets, and if he slept with his eyes closed. Once the boy was comfortable he moved on to the questions that had the potential to put an end to the interview.

"How old are you?"

_Oh, boy, that one's a doozy,_ Ash thought to himself as he watched the boy frown. He had hoped it wouldn't be that hard of a question for the lad.

"I… I don't know."

"Can you remember how many birthday parties you have had? If we can count them we can maybe figure it out."

"I don't have a birthday, freaks aren't allowed," the boy replied flatly.

Backing off a bit, Ash asked the boy if he knew the four seasons. When the boy responded in the negative, he asked instead; "Who did you live with, Champ?"

"_My aunt and uncle_," the boy just barely whispered nervously.

"Can you tell me their names, please?"

"A… Aun… Aunt Petunia and Un… Unc… Uncle Ver… Vernon." The fear in the child's voice crystal clear and mirrored exponentially in his troubled green eyes.

"Did anyone else live with you?"

"My cousin… Du… Dudley," the boy stuttered.

"Have you always lived with your aunt and uncle?"

A single headshake in the negative was the only reply that question received and Ash took a short break to give him some time to calm back down as he poured two glasses of milk and handed one of them to the boy. Surprisingly the boy drank it without protest or prompting; a positive sign that the boy wasn't going hysterical yet due to the questions.

Two hours, two glasses of milk, and a small mid-morning snack later, Ash declared them done for the day and praised the boy for playing the game so well. He told the boy to go upstairs to wash up while he made a short phone call before they spent the rest of the day doing whatever the boy felt like doing.

"Officer Jenny? This is Ash Ketchum," Ash greeted warmly as the woman's face appeared on the phone's view panel. "I'm calling about the lost boy I rescued from the Berry Meadow a week and a half ago."

"Hello, Ash, what's going on?"

"I've spent most of the morning talking with the tyke and have three names for you and the name of a city," Ash replied. Officer Jenny disappeared for a minute as she grabbed her note pad and a pencil. When she returned she nodded to let Ash know she was ready. "The boy was living with his aunt and uncle and their son. Names are Petunia and Vernon. The other boy's name was Dudley. He didn't know their last name though. Dudley was starting school this year and so I expect the cousin is at least age five. It's possible our boy is also about the same age, or maybe a year younger, hard to tell because he's so small."

"Got it, that should be a big help even without knowing their last names. Matching all three names to one family should narrow things down enough to make finding the right family possible. You said you had the name of a city for me?" Officer Jenny stated as she looked expectantly at Ash.

"I do, but it's one I've never even heard of before," Ash admitted. "He called it Little Whinging and he didn't know what county, country, or region it was in. I even searched for the name on my PokéNav only for the search to turn up negative."

"Huh, well I'll see what I can turn up. Thank you so much for all your work Ash. I'll call you back when I have more information."

"Just a couple things before you go, Officer Jenny," Ash added in a rush as the police woman was about to close the line. "When I first asked where he lived, the boy gave me a strange answer, it might be important. Word for word, he said, 'I don't live here and I don't want to go back', and the way he said it just seemed so odd. The other thing I wanted to talk to you about was stopping the order for him to be relocated to a boarding school. I think he'd react badly to any abrupt changes right now… and he's terrified of pretty much all Pokémon. He thinks they're monsters and swears up and down he'd never seen one before he was attacked in the meadow."

"I… his case has already been turned over to the Goldenrod Police Department, Ash; they're already on their way to Pallet Town. They'll be there tomorrow afternoon. The kid's basically an orphan, whether we find this mysterious aunt and uncle or not, and without a guardian's signature or a court order you can't just keep him with you. No matter how much you or the boy might want that. I'm sorry, Ash. It's out of my hands."

"I understand... it's just that I have a really bad feeling about this."

Disconnecting the line, Ash stared morosely out the window where he could see a few stray pidgey soaring below the scattered clouds. He stayed lost in thought until a persistent tugging on his pants brought his attention to the small boy standing beside him.

"You ready, Sport? What are our plans for the day?"

"Can we go find my treasures? I need my glasses too."

"Uh… treasures? Were they with you in the Meadow?" Ash inquired as he abruptly recalled the rather scuffed up purse he'd found near the attack site. The boy nodded vigorously. "Then you're in luck. I found a brown purse in the grass when I went back to the Meadow later that night. It was pretty torn up from the spearows, but I don't think anything had fallen out. I never saw your glasses though. I suspect one of the spearow probably carried them off somewhere. I doubt we'd find them even if we searched the entire meadow. We can, however, get you a new pair now that we know you need them. Wait here, I'll go grab your stuff out of my backpack and bring it down for you. Then we can find something fun to do."

After seeing the boy seated back on the couch, Ash hurried up the stairs to his old room, which was still in need of a thorough cleaning, and searched the mess for his pack. It only took a few minutes to locate the slightly scorched bag under the layer of soot that covered every surface of the room. He quickly pulled the battered purse out from inside of the pack and returned down stairs.

"Here you go, Champ," he said as he passed the bag to the waiting child.

He watched as the boy dug into the bag and pulled out several old rags, a rather beat up book, some funny sticks full of pale green liquid, and a small handful of crayons. A pang of sadness filled Ash as he registered the pathetic state of the boy's most prized possessions. Each item looking as if it had been salvaged from the trash can instead of received as a gift. His thoughts turned morbid as he thought about the picture the child had painted of the life with his family through the impromptu interview, the sporadic outbursts, and unconscious body language. Depression began to set in when he recalled that he pretty much only had one day left to spend with the child. That sparked a deep sense of foreboding and Ash's blood ran cold as he worried about how the boy might react to being taken away.

"Did you find my black?"

The question caught Ash off guard as he was abruptly pulled back into the here and now. "What was that?"

"I'm missing my black. I need it."

"Sorry, Sport, I haven't seen any black crayons. Wasn't it in the purse?"

"No, it was in my pocket but I don't know where my clothes are."

"Ah, your clothes had to be thrown away I'm afraid. They were ruined by the wild spearow. We can ask Professor Oak if he saw your crayon the day I found you, he's the one that took care of your injuries."

"Can we ask him now? Please?"

"Sure, his lab isn't too far from here. We can walk over there right now if you'd like."

After the boy repacked his treasures in his purse, including the rags, the two of them set off through the town. The boy cowered each time he caught sight of a Pokémon but didn't completely panic unless he was approached by one. Thankfully, very few of the Pokémon roaming around the village paid any attention to the pair of them as they headed for Professor Oak's lab.

Inside the lab they found the aged professor tossing out random instructions about several ongoing research projects he had going to all four of his current aides. Only the aides weren't really listening to the professor because they were already well aware of what their duties would be over the next week or so while the good professor was in Goldenrod City airing his talk show on the radio. It was a familiar sight that made Ash chuckle as he recalled fond memories of similar scenes throughout his life.

"Don't forget to offer the new Munchlax a different berry each time and note her reactions to each one. And don't let the Growlithe into the Stunky enclosure again. I still can't get that stench out of his fur. Oh, Ash, I didn't see you there. I see you brought your new friend with you. Anything I can help you with?"

"Yes, we wanted to ask you if you happened to notice a bit of black crayon lying around the lab sometime this past week. Sport here is missing his; he had it in the pocket of the clothes he was wearing when I found him."

"A black crayon? Can't say I've seen any crayons in the lab since my grandson was knee high to a Bellsprout. I'm sure we can find you a replacement for it though."

The boy oddly rejected all offers of a new black crayon, which seemed strange because it was just a crayon and one black crayon was as good as the next. The two of them were given permission to look around the office but in the end they couldn't find the missing crayon and so left the professor to his preparations.

Once outside, Ash kindly suggested that they search along the road for a little ways to see if maybe it dropped out of his pocket at some point. This cheered the boy a touch until the short search of the road turned up nothing. The rest of the afternoon just went from bad to worse from that point.

When they arrived back at the house, the pair found half a dozen uniformed officers standing around outside talking to Delia. A glance towards the town square revealed a recently arrived helicopter that had landed sometime while they were out looking for the lost crayon. Apparently the authorities had decided to catch the magnet train from Goldenrod City to Saffron City and fly the rest of the way to Pallet Town instead of driving all the way. Ash desperately wished they would have stuck to driving.

Swallowing thickly, he led the way to the house and called out a greeting around the growing lump in his throat. Wrapped up in the feeling of impending doom, Ash failed to notice the boy beside him growing tense as he too took notice of the policemen loitering around the house and slowly fell behind.

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><p><strong>AN:<strong> _I'd like to say thanks again for all of the wonderful reviews! They are much appreciated. ~ Jenn_

**AN 12-06-12:**_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._


	9. When Things Go Wrong

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><em><span>Chapter 9: When Things Go Wrong<span>_

_Saturday Afternoon, August 10, 2002  
>Ketchum Home, Pallet Town<br>Kanto Region_

The boy was already feeling wretched because his only chance of getting out of this mad world of monsters so he could find a safer place to live was gone. There was a chance he could draw a new door with a different crayon but he somehow knew that he needed the black one, _his _black one, to make the magic work. He couldn't say why or how he knew this to be the truth, he just did. The moment he saw the policemen, and he knew immediately that that was exactly what the uniformed men and women standing in front of Ash's house were, he felt as if he'd just been punched in the stomach by Dudley.

There were many things that the boy feared, his relatives had seen to that. Some of his biggest fears were; being locked in small places (like his cupboard), the church (because his relatives called him a demon), the dark (because of his cupboard again and the fact he couldn't see in the dark), going to an orphanage (he'd heard such terrible stories about them), and policemen (his uncle said they like to beat freaks who misbehaved and lock them away forever). The first thought that entered his mind when he saw the officers was that he was going to be punished for all the things he had done since going through the door. The second thing he thought was that the policemen were coming to drag him back through the door to his cupboard because he was in big trouble for running away.

He was hovering on the edge of panic as he slowed to a stop while Ash continued walking up to the house. He barely registered Ash speaking with several of the officers as he stood stiffly just over half a dozen meters away. He did immediately notice the two officers that turned around to look at him. His heart was beating wildly out of control now and he was practically gasping for breath as he fought the nauseous feeling that filled his stomach. Tight coils of fear held him rigidly in place right up until one of the male officers called out to him.

"Come here, boy. Boy! I'm talking to you!"

Anger, swift and strong, welled up from inside him and broke him free of his paralysis. He _hated_ being called 'boy' for more than he hated being called Freak. To him, the word 'boy' was a foul word; the ugliest curse word a person could use on a person. His response to the derogatory call was immediate. He ran. The world around him disappeared completely as he focused his entire being on one thing – escape. Unseen and unheard behind him, Ash cursed the officer's stupidity before following.

Obstacles that appeared in front of him were avoided on instinct, his feet either jumping over them or taking him around them before he could even register the fact that they were there. Desperation, fear, and anger made him push his body faster and farther until it wasn't long before the small town disappeared behind him. Vaguely the boy could hear the thump, thump of the helicopter blades cutting through the air above him but he paid the sound no mind even as it passed over him and dropped down to cut off his escape.

Veering off the road, which he had been unconsciously following on his blind dash, he easily evaded the two officers that had exited the helicopter in hopes of catching him. Tall grass slowed him down but didn't stop him as he headed deeper into the wilderness. He'd nearly reached a small copse of trees when he felt a pair of hands scoop him up off the ground. He began screaming in terror the moment he found himself cradled in the arms of the large orange dragon that he firmly believed wanted nothing more than to eat him.

If he hadn't been quite so terrified at the moment, the boy might have enjoyed the feeling of flying through the air. As it stood, he was far too scared of the creature holding him to appreciate the experience. In fact, he was far more scared of the dragon than he was of falling to his death for the boy had begun trying to fight his way free from the arms that held him not more than ten seconds after being lifted off the ground. The dragon seemed to sense this because he flew far closer to the ground than he usually did as he banked back around and returned to town carrying the hysterical child in his arms.

His fear of the giant dragon abruptly vanished the moment the creature landed back in front of Ash and Delia's house. For waiting for him were three very angry police officers and a worried Delia. The life bled out of the boy in that instant, he simply went limp and allowed his mind to flee into the depths of his sub-consciousness. When the dragon landed on the ground and set him on his feet, he was incapable of standing on his own; his body sinking unhindered to the ground.

* * *

><p>Ash, still furious at the obnoxious officer's careless disregard of his suggestions on how to interact with the child and his own mistake of overlooking the child's reaction to the presence of the police, was the first one to reach Charizard's side when his faithful friend returned the boy safe and sound. He fully expected the child to still be wildly fighting and was therefore caught off guard when he found instead a completely unresponsive child slipping bonelessly out of Charizard's grasp.<p>

Fearing he'd been hurt again, Ash rushed forward and caught the child just before he hit the dirt. Cradling him in his arms, he was more than a bit confused to find the child awake, unhurt, and completely unresisting. The expressive green eyes that had constantly been filled with anger, fear, or confusion each time they met his eyes were now unfocused and dull. Dismay flooded through Ash while at the same time his entire body went ice cold. Before he had a chance to try and draw the child out of his waking coma, one of the officers lifted the limp child out of his arms and carried him to the waiting helicopter.

Ash argued feverishly, and loudly, with the officer in charge for ten fruitless minutes in order to keep the child from being taken away. In the end, he felt a helpless rage engulf him as the helicopter lifted into the air and quickly vanished from sight, taking one lost and troubled child with it. A large part of Ash felt as if he'd just had something precious stolen from him and the growing sense of doom he'd felt from the moment he learned the boy was to be taken out of his care still hadn't faded. In his heart, he could feel something was utterly and terribly wrong.

Two days later, Ash learned what his sixth sense had been trying to warn him about. The boy had vanished from the train somewhere between Saffron City and Goldenrod City. A damn near impossible feat because the train did not make any stops anywhere in between those two cities and it moved far too fast for one little boy to safely exit once it left the station. Professor Oak had called him with the terrible news just ten minutes earlier. Ash had asked the professor to take the boy his bag of treasures, because the purse had been left behind in the chaos the day they took the boy, and the professor had readily agreed while muttering something about the kid reminding him of another youngster.

The police reports declared the boy dead; they weren't even sending out a token search party to look for him, or his body. They were labeling his death as a tragic accident and possible suicide. Ash spent the next twenty-four hours on the phone attempting to get more information about what had happened. The officers involved in transporting the boy had no idea how he got away from them and never saw him jump and unfortunately the policeman to last see the boy had died the same night the boy vanished.

Ash didn't believe the reports. He didn't believe the boy had jumped to his death from the moving train. His instincts told him he was right. Coming to a decision, Ash made one final call to the Gym in Slateport to resign before he began packing for a long trip. His mother watched him gather his things with worried, tear filled eyes.

Exactly seventy-eight hours after watching the boy being taken away by helicopter, Ash Ketchum could be found jogging into Viridian City with a silent Pikachu perched on his shoulder. At the town's PokéMart, Ash stocked up on food and supplies for him and his Pokémon before stopping by the police station to speak with Officer Jenny. When she had nothing new to report, either about the boy or his still missing relatives, Ash made arrangements to catch a flight to Saffron City later that night.

While he waited to catch his plane, Ash stopped by the Pokémon Center to have the Pokémon he was taking with him get a quick check-up to make sure they were in perfect health. He also sent a message to Professor Oak to let the old researcher know that he'd be traveling to Goldenrod City on foot by way of Saffron City. The Professor replied back with a warning for him to be careful and gave him the name of a man who might know a way through the wilds that the train tracks cut through.

It was less than a two hour flight but even that short delay made Ash antsy as he sat pouring over the few maps of the harsh mountains and dangerous wilderness that stood between the two cities. Very little was known about the stretch of land that the magnet train passed through. Old rumors and frightening stories about terrible things that had happened during the laying of the train tracks still circulated both cities to this day, giving the section of land a horrible reputation of harshness that very few had ever survived.

Once in Saffron, Ash spent the rest of the night tracking down the whereabouts of the man who supposedly knew where the entrance to the rail service road lay. When he finally found the ancient old man, it took him another three precious hours and a thousand bucks to convince the man to show him the entrance. He camped that night, or what was left of the night, just outside of the heavy gate that marked the entrance to the wild lands beyond.

Sunrise found him on the barely visible traces of the once well maintained service road that followed the train tracks. At his side Pikachu trotted faithfully while Charizard and Pidgeot marked their progress from the sky, both flying Pokémon using the advantage of height to search for any sign of the missing boy.

By their third night in the wilds, Ash was beginning to loose hope of finding any trace of the boy after the amount of time that had passed. The task he'd set himself seemed daunting and insurmountable the further he traveled into the rugged land but he forced himself forward through sheer stubbornness.

* * *

><p><em>August 10, 2002 to August 11, 2002<br>Saffron City, Kanto Region and  
>Goldenrod City, Johto Region<em>

The passing time meant nothing to the boy. He never felt the officers lift him into the helicopter, nor did he feel the disorientating sensation of the copter spinning a in a tight circle while practically on its nose as it took off from the ground and spun around at the same time. The relatively short trip through the air, a three hour and fifteen minute ride (helicopters traveling at a slower speed than planes) didn't even register on the boy's conscious mind.

He never heard the increasingly rude and biting comments directed his way from the obnoxious officer that had been the one to spur him to try to run away just a few hours earlier. He didn't even feel the less than gentle grip of the man as he was forced to drag him from the helicopter pad on top of the radio tower in Saffron City all the way down to the train station. If the other officers that were with them protested his treatment of the boy, their comments didn't reach the boy's ears. Not even the obvious presence of numerous Pokémon moving through the city streets all around him drew a reaction from the boy.

The boy was locked deep in his mind. In a magical room he'd created out of desperation when he realized that he'd never be able to escape. He was hurting, badly. He'd been growing to like the rather boisterous and friendly man who'd rescued him from the monster birds. He'd foolishly thought that the man might genuinely care for him. It was a stupid thing for him to let his guard down though. He knew better than to trust any adult. No one wanted a freak like him. No one cared for a demon child. No one would miss him if he simply vanished.

Inside the train station, while they were waiting for the train to arrive, the friendlier officers made a weak attempt at coaxing a reaction out of the boy but they soon gave up. The obnoxious officer sneered at their efforts and nattered on and on about there being only one way to deal with a child like him. Then the man firmly slapped the boy on the face twice (just hard enough to sting but not to bruise the kid) to shock the boy into a reaction.

The man got a response from the boy, alright, but it was a far different reaction than he'd anticipated. Instead of cowering in fear or crying out in pain, the boy simply lifted his emotionless green eyes and stared at the man as he spoke in a deep, ragged voice that sounded wrong coming from a five year old child.

"**Men like you are all the same. No matter how loud you speak, how hard you hit, or how fast you run; you can't escape who you are on the inside. Ugly and twisted, your soul will rot in perpetual torment for an eternity when you die before midnight tonight.**"

Immediately after, the child returned to his catatonic state as if the entire incident hadn't taken place and the obnoxious policeman stumbled away from the child as if the boy had just been diagnosed with a deadly plague. Even freakier, was that none of the other officers or civilians present had even heard the boy voice the dire pronouncement. After boarding the train, the officer took the first opportunity alone with the boy to bundle him into an empty cargo box he found in one of the storage closets on the train and promptly shoved the box out of the window of the high speed train. He then pretended to search up and down the train for the boy, telling his fellow officers that the boy had taken off when he had his back turned for just a few seconds.

When the train arrived in Goldenrod City, the officers had the entire train quarantined as they conducted a thorough search of all cars for the boy. When they finally allowed the passengers to leave the train, each person and their luggage was subjected to an uncomfortably personal search on the off chance the boy was being held captive by one of the travelers. After three hours, it was decided the boy had jumped the train the moment he was unsupervised and the case closed.

The obnoxious officer worried that his participation in the demise of the kid would be discovered but he was able to cover up the entire incident with a highly falsified report stating the kid had most likely jumped from the train on purpose. None of his fellow officers batted an eye and the man figured he'd gotten away with the deed. Later that night, the obnoxious officer died of alcohol poisoning as he tried to drown the memory of the freaky child with several bottles of whiskey.

Deep in the wild lands between the two train stations, under the pale light of the half moon, a shattered cargo crate splashed with traces of dried blood, sat alone in the middle of an overgrown road. A single set of footprints led away from the twisted metal and wood, heading straight for the ragged mountains in the distance. Somewhere in the night, a lone wolf-like Pokémon howled mournfully at the moon.

* * *

><p><strong>AN 12-06-12:<strong>_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._


	10. Confronting Unseen Monsters

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><em><span>Chapter 10: Confronting Unseen Monsters<span>_

_Wednesday Night, August 14, 2002  
>The Lost Wilds – Unexplored Territory<br>Located between Saffron City and Goldenrod City_

A pale white pointed snout sniffed suspiciously at the haphazard trail of tiny footprints that had so boldly invaded her territory. Sharp amber tinted eyes narrowed as a low, angry growl issued forth from an equally white throat as the creature swiveled triangular ears right and left trying to determine which direction the trespasser was traveling in and if it was still close by. A single fluffy white tail tipped with streaks of a slightly darker cream color flared wildly through the air behind the creature. Moving in tandem with this tail, sweeping across the ground, were an additional eight tails; all of them identical to the first.

A weak cry reached the ears of the agitated ninetales and she growled as she stiffly turned to face the direction from which the sound had originated. The invader was still here. As the wolf-like Pokémon slipped silently through the shadows following the interloper's trail without thought as she sought the source of the strange sound. As she passed through a brief break in the trees, a thin beam of moonlight traveled across her body, making her pale fur glow eerily as it revealed her distended belly.

Not far from where she'd first stumbled upon the tracks of the invading creature, Firasia (as the ninetales had been called since walking her Naming Journey) practically stumbled over a small unmoving form that she hadn't seen until she was right over it. Dancing back in agitation, Firasia growled menacingly at the strange being only to stop when she garnered no response from whatever it was.

Cautiously, she crept closer once more and began nosing the creature as she drank in its scent in an effort to identify what kind of creature he was. _Odd,_ Firasia thought to herself, _he smells of magic and blood. There's madness in him too… but the madness isn't part of him… and yet again it is. _Using her nose she shoved the diminutive form over and jumped back in shock as she finally got a clear look at the creatures face. _He's human!_ Firasia gasped in shock as she gave voice to a frightened whine.

_A human!? Here in the Lost Wilds? How? _Firasia thought frantically as she cringed low to the ground as she watched the figure with wide eyes. _The Great Guardians would never have allowed man into the Wilds… Not since the time of the Roaring Metal Beasts has a human dared cross the boarders of the Wilderness and those that try are punished swiftly by the Nine!_

Confused and more than a little concerned, the pregnant ninetales crawled close enough to run her snout along the body of the human, her cold wet nose poking and prodding him as she tried to discover his reason for being here. During her examination she came across several recent wounds that still wept, the human's thin red blood flowing in tiny threads that pooled on the ground beneath him. Instinctively, Firasia ran her tongue over the closest wound to clean it and flinched back in shock as she registered the newness in his blood.

_He's a man-pup? A mere child? _Firasia wondered in dismay. Suddenly, she whirled around and jumped to her feet at the same time, her tails flaring out in agitation as she intently searched the trees that surrounded her and the boy. _Human younglings never travel alone. Where are this man-pup's life givers? Do they hunt for him here, in the Forbidden Lands, or did the Guardians cast them out? Why did the Guardian not return him to the Stone Dwellings of Man?_

Sensing no immediate threat from her surroundings, she returned her attention back to the child below her feet. A wave of compassion filled Firasia as she stared down at the unconscious and injured child. Giving a soft whine, the female ninetales lowered her head and gently ran her tongue over another of the boy's wounds. Moving slowly, with her eyes constantly watching the boy's face for signs that he was waking, she diligently cleaned each of the small scraps and shallow cuts – much as she would clean any wounds her small pups received once they were born.

When she reached the child's face, she paused in her ministration and placed her nose on his as she stared intently at the boy's closed eyes. Huffing impatiently at his lack of response, she backed up just enough so she could run her tongue over his face. Finished, she sat back on her haunches and watched the boy for several minutes in the moonlight before pointing her nose to the sky and howling her uncertainty to the Guardians above.

As the first traces of dawn muted the light of the stars, Firasia climbed to her feet and began heading towards the foothills where her den lay hidden beneath the ragged mountains. She'd barely taken a dozen steps when something made her stop and look back at the small child that had somehow invaded the Lost Wilds. The momentary compassion that had prompted her to tend the boy's wounds during the night returned a hundred fold as she stared at him.

Wondering if she'd one day regret her decision, Firasia trotted back to the boy's side and gripped the back of his shirt with her teeth. Her journey home, a normal twenty or thirty minute lope from where she'd found the man-child, took nearly the entire day. Her body, burdened as it was with the pups she carried in her belly, tired rapidly under the efforts of dragging the boy across the wilds. It didn't help that moving him over and around the various obstacles in her path, obstacles that she had previously jumped or climbed over with ease, proved excessively difficult due to the awkwardness of moving the boy with her mouth.

During the long trek, Firasia had felt the frightened and curious gazes of the other Pokémon that shared her home watching her from every side. She was mildly surprised that the others hadn't tried to stop her from moving the human, child though he was, further into their lands. Weighted down by the boy and close to giving birth, she would have been easily defeated had any of the others chosen to stop her. Of course, the other Pokémon held all of the ninetales that dwelled in the Lost Wilds in the highest regards, for it was the two hundred or so ninetales living in the area that protect the Wilds from the greed of the humans that shared the larger world. The other Pokémon would sooner bite off their own feet than interfere with a ninetales' scheme, especially a female ninetales that carried the next generation of Guardians within her womb.

After the arduous journey home, getting the man-pup into her den was relatively simple. The child was easily less than half her size and the entrance tunnel sloped downward into the large underground cave. Pulling him over beside the nest of belly fur and dried grasses she'd made in preparation for the impending births of her pups, she released her hold on him and worked the aching muscles in her jaw for a moment. She gave the boy a brief nudge with her nose but when he didn't stir, she trotted over to the farthest corner to drink from a tiny underground spring that flowed through part of her home before returning to her nest.

Sinking into the soft bed, she gave a soft groan as she settled down on her side and pressed her body up against the small child in order to keep him warm. All nine of her tails curled over and around the child as well, creating a living blanket for him. Exhausted, Firasia drifted off to sleep where she dreamed of laughing green eyes and playful cubs.

Above ground dozens of paws and tails swept away the signs and scent of the man-child that lead away from the clearing in which Firasia had found the child. The Guardians providing the young mother, even though they thought her actions foolish and poorly thought out, a measure of protection against the one they knew searched for the boy.

* * *

><p><em>Saturday Afternoon, August 17, 2002<br>The Lost Wilds – Unexplored Territory  
>Located between Saffron City and Goldenrod City<em>

Ash found the scattered pieces of the damaged cargo box on the forth afternoon of his journey through the Wilds. At first he didn't think it was in any way connected to the missing boy but Pikachu quickly drew his attention to the damaged crate when he bean chattering anxiously at him after sniffing about the largest section. When Ash looked closer, he found several patches of dried blood that he feared meant the boy had been seriously injured.

The discovery was both depressing and uplifting. Depressing because it meant he was right about the boy not vanishing on his own and uplifting because the dead don't bleed and there was no sign of a body anywhere nearby. Ash gathered up his searching Pokémon and offered them all a bowl of water and some food while he made a phone call to Professor Oak.

The reception was horrible and the call kept cutting in and out but Ash managed to pass along the news that he'd found a clue in his search. Using the Global Positioning System, or GPS, function on his PokéNav he sent his present coordinates to the professor just as the signal cut out. Subsequent attempts to reestablish a connection failed, so Ash could only hope that the professor had received the coordinates before the line went dead.

To protect the remains of the cargo box from both the weather and from scavenging Pokémon, Ash pulled out one of his emergency tarps and staked the heavy duty red plastic down directly over the pieces of wood and metal and sprayed a liberal amount of Pokémon repellant around the edges to keep away the wild creatures in the area.

Ash then asked his young Luxio, a blue and yellow lion-like Pokémon of the electric type, and Pikachu to see if they could pick up the boy's trail while Charizard and Pidgeot took to the skies once more. He returned Venusaur and Butterfree to their pokéballs to keep them rested on the off-chance that some wild Pokémon attacked while the others were out searching.

Hope blossomed in his chest when Luxio yowled out a cry of success; the trail had been found. The boy had left under his own power which meant that he hadn't been too seriously injured and there was a chance they would find him soon. Smiling for the first time in days, Ash re-shouldered his backpack and hurried after his Pokémon, anxious to track the boy down as quickly as possible.

Unseen behind him, nine sets of ghostly red eyes stared unemotionally after Ash's retreating back.

* * *

><p><em>Sunday Morning, August 18, 2002<br>The Lost Wilds – Unexplored Territory  
>Located between Saffron City and Goldenrod City<em>

Over the next three days Firasia diligently looked after the unconscious man-pup. She regularly bathed his wounds with her tongue, stockpiled berries and nuts in the cave for him to eat once he woke, and slept beside him so he didn't freeze. On the fourth day, Firasia gave birth to a trio of small vulpix pups.

The two larger vulpix, one male and one female, had identical medium brown bodies, cream colored bellies, four darker brown socks over their feet, messy red manes, and six tightly coiled red tails. The third pup was different though. He was barely half the size of his other siblings, the classic runt of the litter, and his fur was a washed out rust-red with slightly darker socks, his belly fur a cream so pale it looked white in places, his mane a lighter shade of rust, and his tails, of which he had only three, were the same pale shade of rust tipped with fur the color of dried blood. The tiny male runt also reeked of powerful magic.

Now, all vulpix are born with trace amounts of magic in their blood, it's their legacy as the descendants of the First Guardians of the Lost Wilds. Very few vulpix ever radiate their magic prior to their transformation into a ninetales though, and of those that do, only one in a thousand survive to adulthood. Firasia was one such ninetales, the first to achieve the evolution from vulpix to ninetales in the last two thousand years. Yet the magic inside of her was far weaker than what she could feel in her smallest son and she mourned for the son her instincts told her would not live through his First Ember Ceremony.

Life in the Lost Wilds was harsh, only the strong prevailed and all of the wild Pokémon who called the Wilds their home were well aware of what it took to survive in the harsh lands. That stark reality drove Firasia to cruelly push the runt of the litter outside of the nest, her survival instincts dictating that the mercy of a quick death would be best for the pup which would increase the other two pups' chances of survival. That's not to say the first time mother didn't feel heartbreak as she turned away from her second son, because she did. But she also knew that trying to prolong the inevitable would only draw out the poor pup's suffering in the long run.

What Firasia didn't count on was the havoc the human boy would have on the natural order of her world when he finally woke just hours after she gave birth.

* * *

><p><em>Sunday Afternoon, August 18, 2002<br>The Lost Wilds – Unexplored Territory  
>Located between Saffron City and Goldenrod City<em>

The walls inside his mind that had protected the boy from the cruelty of the world around him crumbled the instant he'd been locked into the small dark box. It was an abrupt and startling change for the boy because the last thing he truly remembered was getting angry because the policeman had called him 'boy' before trying to run away. He had a vague impression of orange hands with claws picking him up and flying through the air but the details were too fuzzy for him to recall clearly what had happened.

For a split second the boy thought he was back in his cupboard and everything had just been a terrible nightmare, only for reality to kick in as he felt the box begin to move. His cupboard, as small and as dark as it was, never moved. And it certainly never tumbled round every which way until it smashed into the ground and practically exploded.

Dazed and confused from one too many knocks on the head and from the force of the impact, it took the boy several hours to register his surroundings. He was both scared and relieved to find himself out in the middle of nowhere; scared because he had no idea where he was and relieved because he was obviously not at the less-than-tender mercy of the policemen that had come to take him away. And while he was lonely, he didn't really mind being alone; he was used to being alone. He was sad too, because he'd sort of liked Ash only to find out the man hadn't really wanted him.

Eventually, the soreness he felt from his impromptu whirlwind ride in the box combined with the weariness from his earlier mad dash down the road caught up with him and the boy curled up in the biggest section of the box he'd been locked inside and gradually drifted off to sleep. It was still dark out when he woke up again and he was more than a little cold. He was also in far more pain than he'd been in before he'd fallen asleep. Luckily, his only injuries were a couple dozen of scraps, bumps, and bruises from being tossed around inside of the box; though his entire body positively ached from the destruction of said box.

He sat shivering inside the mangled box for hours waiting for the sun to rise only to be chased away from his half hidden perch by the sounds of something large heading towards him. Unaware that the sound was just one of the magnet trains running the tracks from Goldenrod to Saffron, the boy chose to flee away from the sound instead of towards it. He didn't get far before his already strained body forced him to stumble to a stop. The strange sound was already gone but even so he didn't want to go back to the box in case whatever new kind of monster it was came back looking for him.

Weary, the boy slept again, this time at the base of a flimsy looking tree. Hours later he woke up hungry, thirsty, and still sore. The sun was sitting low in the sky this time; though he had no idea if that was because it was still early in the morning or if it was because it would soon be night. Not wanting to be found by any wild monsters, he still had nightmare's sometimes about the terrible birds that had attacked him before, he staggered up onto his feet and began walking in roughly the same direction he'd been moving the night before.

After learning that it was still morning, the sun had continued climbing instead of sinking in the sky, the boy began actively looking for something to eat. He was starving. He had hoped to find one of the fruit bushes like before but was secretly glad he didn't because in the back of his mind he worried the birds would be waiting for him by the bushes. He did find a few nuts scattered on the ground at one point but he'd been unable to open the tough shells and so left them behind.

Towards night fall, he literally fell into a small stream that ran across his path and he greedily sucked in as much as his stomach could hold. He felt a little ill afterwards so he crawled away from the stream and curled up under a bush with large thorns, thinking the thorns would help protect him from monsters, and soon felt asleep. That night he woke up twice, the first when he heard something prowling just beyond his hiding place and the second time was in the middle of a nightmare as he tangled himself in the thorny branches of the bush and scratched himself badly. The rest of that night he spent huddled just out of reach of the thorn bush unable to go back to sleep because he was so frightened.

With the rising sun, the child once more drank his fill of water before crossing over the stream and walking on towards what he thought could be mountains. He could barely keep his eyes open though, as his body was weak from a lack of food and proper sleep. He was also cold, his borrowed clothes still fairly soaked from falling in the water the day before.

Over the course of the day his clothes gradually dried but by then he'd already caught a severe cold from spending the night in wet clothes coupled with sleeping out in the open for the past handful of nights. Around noon he felt so terrible that he curled up in the middle of a small clearing and fell asleep, for once not caring if any wild monsters found him. When he got back up, just after the sunset, he wearily climbed to his feet and continued on his way.

He was once again drifting in and out of consciousness, his inner self frightened of all that he'd endured since crawling through the door, and he began to lose track of his surroundings. The moon was nearly at its zenith when the boy tripped painfully over a hidden root under the grass. He let out a brief cry as he tumbled to the ground only to black out the moment his head hit the ground.

When he finally regained consciousness, he was completely disorientated and still in pain. His head throbbed from where it had hit the ground, his chest was all congested, and it felt like his back had been scraped raw. He moaned softly as his body protested against the mere thought of moving and was somewhat shocked when something whined in reply.

The boy opened his eyes slowly, expecting to find the sun in his eyes since he was lying on his back, only to find himself in the dark. Not really worried, thinking it was still nighttime; the boy strained his eyes as he searched all around him to see if he could make out what had made the noise he'd heard. He was just beginning to think he'd imagined the sound when he heard it a second time and felt something cold butting up against his hand. The child flinched away from the contact and cried out weakly in fear only to immediately regret it as his body burned and ached from the sudden movement.

Unable to stop himself, he rolled onto his side and curled into a tight ball to try and escape the pain. The new pain was just beginning to fade when the animal that had found him touched him again, this time it butted against his chin and whined practically in his ear. Green eyes shot open and immediately saw the faint outline of a tiny puppy just big enough to fill both of his hands now that his eyes had finally adjusted to the darkness. The poor thing was shivering and shaking as it blindly continued to burrow closer to him, seeking his warmth. The boy knew it must be a young puppy, because it didn't look like its eyes were even open yet.

And if there was a young puppy here, momma must not be too far away. As if replying to the unspoken thought, a low warning growl sounded from nearby and the boy tried to shrink away from the sound. He was very familiar with angry dogs; Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge, had an angry dog that had chased the boy up into a tree once or twice. Thinking the mother dog just wanted her puppy back; the boy painfully climbed onto his knees and awkwardly picked the questing pup up with both hands and inched his way closer to the sounds of growling.

He soon made out a pair of softly glowing amber eyes and the outline of a larger dog. Moving slowly, so as not to startle the protective mother, the boy set the puppy down beside the mother's belly, where he could see two other pups, and began to back away. The mother dog seemed unsure now and spent a minute sniffing all three pups before she abruptly shoved the one he'd just returned away from her.

"Bad mummy dog!" The boy admonished as he unthinkingly reached out and gently thumped the mother dog on the nose. "Your baby needs you. Mummies are supposed to take care of all their babies!"

The mother dog yelped in surprise (rather than in pain) at the contact and rubbed her tender snout with a paw. While she was focused on her smarting nose, the boy once again placed the little runt back against her tummy, beside his siblings, before sitting beside the small family in order to make sure the mother dog behaved. The boy, knowing what it was like to not have a mother to take care of him, was so determined to protect the helpless puppy that he never once took notice that the mother dog was easily six times his size or that she was actually nothing at all like a dog.

Not long after making sure the previously ignored puppy got to eat, the boy began leaning to one side until he was finally lying down with what he thought were a family of dogs, he head pillowed against the shoulder of the mother. As he drifted off to sleep, he never felt the multiple tails curl around him and the puppies to keep them all warm.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> _Now… I'm certain some of you are thinking… Pokémon are hatched from eggs! They don't give live birth! And if you are, then please let me remind you that this is an AU story – meaning that I'm disregarding various bits and pieces of canon. As such, the only Pokémon in this story that will hatch from eggs are dragons, birds, reptiles, fish, and maybe a couple of the animal-like plant types. Any mammalian type Pokémon will give live birth, the plant types will either reproduce via spores, seeds, bulbs, or possibly clippings, and some of the poison types will divide such as grimer and muk. _

_ANYwho… I'd like to thank everyone for the wonderful reviews as well thank everyone who has added this story to their alert/favorite lists and hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as you have earlier ones. ~ Jenn_

**AN 12-06-12:**_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._


	11. Finding Friends

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><em><span>Chapter 11: Finding Friends<span>_

_Monday Morning, August 19, 2002  
>The Lost Wilds – Unexplored Territory<br>Located between Saffron City and Goldenrod City_

Persistent prodding woke the boy sometime later, and he sleepily switched positions so he was curled around all three puppies as the mother dog got up to stretch her legs and eat. He quickly slipped back into a light doze, only partially aware of his surroundings. He woke up completely though when three cold noses touched his cheek and a single wet tongue licked his ear. He giggled for the first time in well over week, though he had no idea how long it had been since the day the police had turned up at Delia and Ash's house to take him away.

He sat up weakly, and spent a few minutes petting the puppies that had been searching for their mother. As he was stroking the wriggly pups he couldn't help but notice something odd about their tails. Picking up the runt he'd protected earlier, he lifted the pup right up next to his face and with one hand lifted the creature's tail – only to find another tail beside it. In fact, the puppy had exactly three tails much to the boy's growing horror. A quick check of the two bigger puppies revealed them to actually have twice as many tails as the runt.

The boy couldn't believe he'd been stupid enough to think this mixed up world actually had normal animals in it. He then remembered giving the mother monster a flick on the nose and ordering her to take care of her puppy and he began to panic. Frantically, he began looking around for the missing mother, fully expecting her to attack him from out of the dark for daring to rebuke her. It was at that moment that he was abruptly reminded of the three baby monsters right beside him; the runt had followed him and was currently trying to burrow under his leg.

Shaking, the boy reached out to push the creature away when he heard a sound from right behind him. Looking over his shoulder, the boy found the mother monster practically towering over him and he whined fearfully as he closed his eyes tightly. It was something of a shock then, when the monster dropped something about the size and shape of a tennis ball into his lap before moving passed him to curl back up with her babies.

Opening his eyes in confusion and trepidation, the boy lifted the object out of his lap to get a closer look. He was surprised to discover it looked like an extra large blueberry; the creature had brought him food. The boy didn't know what to think, he knew the young man that had saved him from the ugly birds had told him that the creatures weren't monsters but up until now each and every one of them had seemed so scary, even the little yellow shock-mouse. Yet this one brought him food, much like a real dog would bring its master a ball or a stick. The babies were kind of cute too, even if they did have far too many tails.

A big fluffy tail brushed across his face and the boy looked up to see the glowing amber eyes watching him. When the creature looked into his eyes, he felt something brush across his mind like a feather before vanishing. It was a decidedly odd but not wholly unpleasant feeling. Next thing he knew, the tail that had touched him was curling around his back and a second identical tail was pushing the hand that held the fruit up towards his face. It would seem the creature wanted him to eat.

Taking a small bite, he scrunched his face up at the strangeness of the taste. This berry, unlike the other fruits he'd eaten from this world, didn't have just one flavor; this one had at least three. It was bitter at first but soon turned sour as he chewed and finished with a spicy after bite. After the one bite, the boy tried to put the fruit down, only to have a pair of the mother creature's tails guide it back to his mouth. The message was perfectly clear; he was to eat the entire fruit – no matter how awful it tasted.

While he reluctantly ate the fruit one bite at a time, he watched one of the many tails of the mother scoop the questing runt away from his side. The boy, remembering the mother's attempts to ignore the tiniest pup when he'd woken up the first time, paused in mid bite to shyly remind the mother creature that all babies need their mummies. The mother huffed, as if exasperated, and rubbed her paw over her nose once before poking him in the tummy with one of her tails with annoyance and the boy giggled as he wrapped an arm around his stomach to protect his tummy from the tail.

He managed to eat a little more than half the giant berry before his stomach began feeling full. He yawned a couple of times as he let his hand fall to his side as his eyes fell shut and he slumped to one side as he slowly began drifting off to sleep; his body still extremely weak from everything that had happened over the past several days. He never felt the mother dog-creature gently set the fruit aside and cover him with six of her nine tails so he wouldn't grow cold, her eyes never straying from the odd child as she seemingly tried to figure him out.

* * *

><p><em>Friday Evening, August 23, 2002<br>The Lost Wilds – Unexplored Territory  
>Located between Saffron City and Goldenrod City<em>

Ash sat morosely in front of the small fire Charizard had lit for him. He was currently camped out in a thin copse of ash trees (something he normally would have found extremely funny) where he and his Pokémon had lost the boy's trail. And it wasn't that they'd missed a turn somewhere along the way, all signs of the boy had simply vanished. Between one step and the next, all traces of the boy simply disappeared two feet away from where they were sitting.

They'd lost an entire day backtracking on the off chance the boy had turned around gone back the way he'd come and taken a side trail at some point. He hadn't. Another five hours were wasted combing through the sparse woods surrounding the clearing where the trail ended in an effort to see if one of the Pokémon could pick up his scent again. They couldn't. Things had quickly gone downhill from that point forward.

After hiking around in circles for hours, digging under bushes and climbing up countless trees, the group had returned to last known location of the missing child to get some rest before continuing the search. They'd barely fallen asleep when they'd been woken up by the sound of a hundred Pokémon howling from all around them. Ash and his Pokémon had sat up to find a circle ninetales watching them from between the trees at the edge of the clearing. No matter which direction they turned, the mystical Pokémon were there and it frightened the bejeebees out of the twenty year old trainer. It didn't help that Pikachu and the other Pokémon were actually cowering on the ground beside Ash, even the powerful and prideful Charizard.

He would have packed up his things and moved but for the fact that the wild Pokémon had them completely surrounded and they didn't appear as if they'd be moving anytime soon. Exactly nine hours after they appeared, the ninetales stepped back into the shadows of the surrounding forest and vanished without a trace. Thinking that was his cue to leave; Ash packed up as quickly as he could and turned to head back to the train tracks to try and get a hold of Professor Oak in the hopes of finding out what the heck was going on. He'd not even managed to take five steps towards his back trail before nine ninetales stepped out of thin air to block his way.

It didn't matter which direction he took, the moment he tried to leave, several of the ninetales would be there to stop him. Sheer stubbornness had Ash trying to find a way out of the stand of trees for twelve hours before he finally got the point. It was right after he'd tried flying out of the area on Charizard only to find the ninetales waiting for him in the branches of the surrounding trees. That was three days ago.

Tallying up the days in his mind, Ash figured that the boy had been missing for fourteen or fifteen days now and he'd been without a means of communication for eight. He had no idea what was going on outside of the Wilds and no way of letting his mother and the professor know he was alright. He couldn't even send his Pidgeot out carrying a note; and he'd tried. Twice. The ninetales wanted him here and so here he would stay until they allowed him to leave.

It wasn't a pleasant thought.

* * *

><p><em>Tuesday Afternoon, August 20, 2002<br>The Lost Wilds – Unexplored Territory  
>Located between Saffron City and Goldenrod City<em>

When he next woke up, the boy felt surprisingly well. His cold was mostly gone and he felt refreshed. He was still very sore but he didn't hurt nearly as bad as he had before. Opening his eyes, he was surprised to find that he was using several of the mother's long, fluffy tails as blankets. Even more surprising was that the runt of the litter had curled up next to him at some point in the night.

As he stretched out stiffly, the tails covering him lifted away and he glanced to the side to find the mother creature watching him once more. She gave a loud yawn and shook her head before one of her tails handed him the uneaten half of the fruit from before. He made a face at the fruit but ate it anyway. The moment he swallowed the last bite he felt the last of his aches and pains fade away. He wasn't really certain why he suddenly felt better but it wasn't as if he felt the need to give it all that much thought. He was just happy to not be in pain.

A short while later he was given another, larger piece of fruit. This one the same exact kind as the ones he'd been picking when he'd been attacked by the giant birds. He didn't hesitate to devour this fruit in one sitting and when he was finished his tummy gurgled happily at being full for the first time in days. The boy tried to leave now that he felt well enough but the mother dog-creature had gently herded him back to the nest with the pups. He didn't really understand why she did it. He almost wondered if she thought he was one of her pups; which made him feel kind of weird.

After a few more waking and sleeping cycles, the boy realized he must be in some kind of underground cave, because he never saw the sunlight. It bothered him a bit a first, since it reminded him of the times when his aunt and uncle used to lock him in his cupboard back home, but he eventually grew comfortable in the near perpetual darkness. The fact that the cave was much larger than his old cupboard helped as did the knowledge that he was no longer alone; his attention often fixed on the constant presence of the rapidly growing puppies.

The mother would often leave the boy to 'babysit' the young pups while she went out and hunted for food. Though for the most part the only pup he really spent any time with was the runt; who was still half the size of his brother and sister. In fact, the runty pup spent more time curled up in the boy's lap than it did with its mother. The child was quickly growing fond of the tiny creature and had gradually stopped thinking of the tiny thing as a baby monster. It was hard to see a monster in the adorable ball of fluff that burrowed playfully under his shirt to stay warm or tickled his ears with its tongue.

One day the mother dog-creature broke her routine and carried a single piece of wood that was nearly as long as she was tall back to the cave instead of food. She placed the branch in the middle of the cave and promptly left once more. When she returned, she carried yet another branch of wood that she place right on top of the first piece. Seven more times she repeated the process, until she had nine good size bits of wood piled up in the middle of the cave. The boy didn't really think anything of the strange behavior until she gave a sharp bark and set the pile of branches on fire.

The sudden burst of light forced the boy to throw his arms over his eyes for several minutes until they had a chance to adjust to the abrupt change. When he was finally lowered his arms, he was surprised to be able to clearly see the family of dog-creatures for the first time (well as clearly as he could without his glasses). Now that he could make out their features a little clearer, he thought they looked more like wolves than dogs. Or maybe foxes. The puppies also looked nothing like their mother, they didn't even have the same number of tails, but he just figured that they must look like their absent father.

As the warmth and light of the fire filled the underground cavern, the child took the opportunity to look around the cave he'd lived in for so long. The roof, which he could just barely make out over his head, was made out of tightly packed dirt and huge boulders. The floor was loose dirt that had been packed smooth by time and many paw steps. In the corner opposite of the fur and grass nest he'd been sharing with the wolf-creatures, he could see the firelight reflecting off of the small spring he'd drank from several times since he'd woken up in the cave with the strange wolf-like creature and her pups. Thinking of the water made him thirsty and he headed over to the now sparkling spring and immediately he bent down and took a long drink.

When he finished drinking his fill, he sat up and noticed a large pile of various fruits sitting off to one side of the spring, like the ones the mother wolf-creature had been giving him. He'd just been thinking about digging through the pile of fruits to see if there were any more of his favorite kind when he heard the puppies whine and growl. Turning around he gasped in horror as he watched the mother place the two larger pups directly into the flames with her tail. She was reaching out with her another one of her tails for the runt when he rushed forward to save the tiny puppy.

Two long tails wrapped around his body as he lifted the puppy out of her reach and he twisted around to fight his way free as tears dripped down his face. He felt tricked by the mother; he'd just stopped thinking of her as a monster only to find out now that she really was one. More tails curled around him lifted him off the floor and for a full minute he thought he was going to be thrown in the fire too. That is until he felt a warm tongue brush over his face several times.

Opening his eyes he found himself face to face with the mother, her amber eyes staring into his green ones with a strange intensity. She touched his nose with hers for a brief second before giving a soft yip as she turned him to face the flames. He tried to look away but several more yips and one of her tails brushing across his face several times made him take a good look at the small fire.

Inside the flames, rolling around happily, were the two bigger pups. Awe filled the boy for the two pups appeared to be unharmed. In fact, the two puppies looked bigger than they were before they'd been placed into the flames and their eyes were now open. Unlike their mother, whose eyes were the color of amber, the two pups had dark red eyes that reflected the flames.

After a few minutes of watching the pups, the mother gently set him back down on his feet and gave a long whine followed by a short yip. The boy, no longer afraid, slowly relaxed his protective hold on the pup in his hands and watched as she lifted the wee boy up with her tail and tenderly placed it in the fire beside his siblings. The child moved a few feet closer to the fire to watch.

Before his eyes, the runt began to burrow between the burning branches as if looking for something. When it came up it had a tiny chunk of brightly glowing charcoal, formed out of the wood from the heat of the fire, in its mouth. He was a bit shocked to see the puppy swallow the thing whole and wondered if they other two puppies had done the same thing when he wasn't looking. Eight more times the little pup swallowed pieces of the glowing embers; the boy had counted each one.

As the last glowing piece of charcoal disappeared into the pup's tummy, the pup began to glow brightly. At the same time the flames of the fire shrank until only a few brave blue flames licked the still glowing pieces of wood that remained from the original branches. The other two puppies scampered out of the remains of the fire with nervous whines and the mother immediately pulled them away from the fire as she danced back away. She tried to bring the boy back away from the flames too but he dodged her tail and moved closer – he didn't want to miss seeing this puppy open his eyes.

If the child would have paid attention to the mother wolf-creature, he would have seen that she had become terrified. She had watched similar fire ceremonies, not that the boy knew this, and she knew that when the flames died and the puppy started to glow it was never a good sign. Each time it had happened, the puppy had too much magic inside of them and the pup would lose control of their magics and they would truly become part of the flames, their bodies vanishing forever from the world as their magic exploded outwards. This was why she'd tried to push the runt away in the beginning.

The mother was now cowering in the middle of the spring with her other two pups held away from the water in her tails. The child still didn't see her though as his eyes were glued to the now almost painfully glowing white puppy playing happily in the bed of embers. The boy was drawn even closer to the pup, yearning to see if his eyes had opened like the others and if they eyes would be red like his brother and sister's eyes or yellow-orange like his mother's eyes. He was so close he could feel the intense heat of the still hot coals on his face.

Dropping down onto his belly, so he was even with the pup's head, he watched as the little boy pup opened his eyes for the first time. The boy gasped as glowing blue eyes looked at him. The eyes were the same color as the blue flames that still burned and they danced just like the flames did too. Streaks of bright amber, glowing reds, and pale yellows flickered in the depths of the pup's eyes but never drowned out the burning blue.

The little pup gave an excited yip and belched out a small ball of fire that landed at his feet gave new life to the dying fire. The boy giggled at the confused expression of the puppy and unthinkingly reached out to pet the puppy. He didn't feel the heat of the flames until his hand touched the runt's nose, then a burning shock traveled from the tips of his fingers all the way to his shoulder and he threw himself back in distress as he cried out. The wild and white hot magic of the pup having transferred itself from the pup to the boy the moment they touched.

He cradled his now burning and throbbing arm against his body as he cried once more, this time in pain. Tiny little paws scratched against his pant leg and he looked down to find that the puppy followed him out of the fire. The little boy pup whined and licked his hand as if saying it was sorry and the boy sniffled twice before tentatively running a finger of his uninjured hand over the soft fur between the puppy's eyes. When he wasn't burned this time, he began stroking and petting the little pup freely, much to the puppy's obvious delight.

He was reminded of the other wolf-creatures when he felt several drops of water splash down on top of his head and trickle down his back. He giggled as the water drops tickled and shyly smiled up at the mother wolf-creature who was standing over him. The mother snuffled and sniffed as she first poked the tiny pup several times with her nose before doing the same to the boy, making him shriek and giggle as she poked him in ticklish spots he'd not known he had. While she was doing this, the two larger pups had joined their brother on his lap and all three of them were licking his uninjured hand and face.

The boy was breathless when the mother finally stopped tickling him with her nose and he found himself lying on his back with two puppies sprawled over his tummy and one tucked into his right armpit. When the mother returned, she dropped a large blue strawberry-like fruit on the ground beside him and lifted the two pups off his stomach so he could sit up. The last pup, the runt, simply climbed up his arm and chest as he sat up so that the little runt was now sitting on the boy's shoulder. Once he was up, the mother picked up the fruit and pushed it into his hands as she whined urgently.

The boy really wanted to go put his arm in the spring instead; for now that he wasn't distracted by poking noses and washing tongues, he could feel the burning pain in his left arm again. The mother wolf-creature was insistent though as each time he put the fruit down to stand up, she'd put it right back in his hand. Sighing, the boy reluctantly took a bite from the fruit and gagged at the overly bitter taste. He would have spit it right back out if not for the tail that had covered his mouth the moment he opened it to spit.

Making horrible faces, the boy unhappily chewed the bite and swallowed. He was then forced to repeat the process until the entire fruit had been consumed. When he finally swallowed the very last bite his stomach felt queasy from the bitterness of the fruit. A moment later, he was shocked when the mother wolf-creature put her cold nose on his burnt arm and he felt no pain. Gaping down at his arm in wonder, he could see that his arm had been healed of the burn while he was eating the fruit. It was like magic.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> _I just wanted to thank __**Kouru-Kage**__ for pointing out a couple of mistakes I'd made in the last chapter. Normally I'd have replied to the review but since he/she wasn't signed in… I fixed my spelling mistake (which was by no means the fault of my beta since it had been an edit I did after her earlier corrections) and fixed the reference to the Luxio being a dog-like creature. I honestly think that particular group (shinx, luxio, and luxray) look more like dogs than they do lions but well… I've half blind and half blonde. lol… _

_In regards to the number of tails on the vulpix; I know they hatch out with only one that splits as they grow but I'd wanted something more than just the color of the pups to differentiate between them. Call it creative license, though in most other cases I stay much truer to form in how the Pokémon look. (Misplaced dog-like comment aside because like I said I always thought they looked more like dogs…)_

_Anywho… just wanted to point that out… ~ Jenn_

**AN 12-05-12:**_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._


	12. Survival Training

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><em><span>Chapter 12: Survival Training<span>_

_September 19, 2002 to December 22, 2002  
>The Lost Wilds – Unexplored Territory<br>Located between Saffron City and Goldenrod City_

The day after the day of the three puppies' fire bath, as the child had come to think of the day the pups opened their eyes, the mother wolf-creature had begun taking the pups and the boy out of the den. She would then calmly lift all four of the younglings onto her back before climbing up into the mountains above the cave. The first time she'd done this; the boy had panicked and nearly fallen off until she steadied him with her tails. Once he was securely seated, with his legs wrapped around her belly and his head buried in the fur of her shoulders, she'd began walking, climbing higher into the mountains.

After the first few rides on the mother's back, when he'd grown comfortable and confident enough to cling to her with his arms and legs so he didn't slide off, the mother would run faster than any horse with the quartet yipping and shouting gleefully from her back as she jumped over boulders and dashed through gurgling streams. The boy quickly began to enjoy the wild rides as he became more confident in the growing friendship he had with the family of wolf-creatures.

The multiple trips up to the mountain's peak weren't just about getting a free ride though. The mother was teaching her children, and by extension the boy, how to survive in the harsh wilderness. She taught them how to find the edible fruits, how to crack open the hard shells of the nuts by dropping them from a great height onto the rocks below (the boy taking that lesson a step further by using a rock like hammer to crack the shells), and she taught them how to build fires. This last skill was one the boy had difficulty in achieving. He could easily locate the dry branches that would burn long and hot but he was unable to spit fire out of his mouth like the pups and their mother. He didn't mind lacking that ability though, because the runt always helped him light the fire after he carefully placed the branches he'd gathered in a neat pile.

The mother also taught the pups how to fight and how to dodge attacks. The child never participated in these lessons, though he'd become good at dodging the pups when they tried to pounce on him for practice. He'd just sit on a rock or in a nearby tree and watch as the mother growled, barked, yipped, and whined as she taught the pups different types of attacks. Over time, the little ones learned how to create a smoke screen, use their paws to scratch their opponents, when to bite the other creature attacking them, and how to use lightning quick attacks to knock the other creature down.

The two larger pups excelled during the mock fights the three fought in against each other. The runt, on the other hand didn't have as much strength as his siblings though and often lost each of his battles. Luckily, the smallest was also the fastest and he could dodge attacks far better than his bigger brother and sister which meant he didn't get caught nearly as often. His fires also burned hotter and brighter than either of his two siblings.

After each fight, the mother would clean her children and make them eat some of the various fruits they collected. In this way, the boy learned that the fruits were like medicine, each berry or fruit healing a particular type of injury. Once he understood that, the boy quickly began memorizing which berry healed what injury and how much of the berry was needed to do so. He also taught himself how to weave baskets from the thick, coarse grass that grew on the mountain side which he used to carry and store the many berries that they gathered.

He soon began making other things out of the woven grass; soft mats stuffed with bits of feathers and fur to sleep on, a hat to keep the sun out of his eyes, and a special pack with two baskets that could be draped over the mother's back so the family could gather three times as much food or firewood to bring back to the cave.

Time flew by quickly during the weeks of lessons and the three pups and the boy grew stronger and larger, though the runt never caught up to his siblings in size. The borrowed clothes the boy had been wearing when the mother found him soon began falling apart from the long days spent running wild through the mountains and he eventually shed them in favor of running through the wilds naked. The first few days he'd spent without clothes saw him developing painful sunburns (which were cured with the same berry he'd eaten the night he'd gotten burned when he touched the runt while he was in the fire) but after about a week or so his skin soon developed a tan as he spent more and more time outside unclothed.

The lessons along with the summer and autumn days spent beneath the sun on the rocky ledges of the mountain soon came to an abrupt end as the weather turned cold. The two bigger pups, no longer really puppies for they'd grown so big they were nearly as tall as the boy, soon left to live on their own. The boy was sorry to see them go, he'd grown very fond of the fire breathing wolf-creatures and knew he'd miss them. The mother now began spending time away from the cave, leaving the boy alone with the runt for days at a time.

The boy was slowly forced to spend more and more time down in the dark cave as the weather turned even colder. Without clothes that fit him, he had no way of keeping warm if he ventured out into the near freezing winds. He was very thankful for the presence of the smallest pup, who barely reached his knees, for he kept the huge fire in the center of the cave fed with dry branches when it was too cold for the boy to go out and gather wood.

Things changed again with the coming of the first snowfall. Immediately after the storm passed on, the mother wolf-creature began filling the carrying pack the boy made for her with a portion of the fruits and nuts they'd stored in the cave. Once the pack was full, she slipped the pack over her head and slid it into place with her tails before lifting the boy and the last pup onto her back. She then trotted out of the cave and for the first time she traveled, not up into the mountains, but down into the forest that butted up against the foothills where they lived.

* * *

><p><em>Sunday Afternoon, December 22, 2002<br>The Lost Wilds – Unexplored Territory  
>Located between Saffron City and Goldenrod City<em>

Ash sat shivering in his jacket as he sat wrapped up in his sleeping bag near the fire. A near frozen Pikachu was nestled right against his belly, the electric Pokémon's nose the only part of him visible at the moment. The other Pokémon were currently safe from the cold, tucked up inside their pokéballs but Ash had long since stopped carrying an extra pokéball for Pikachu – his first Pokémon having consistently refused to stay inside one from the very beginning of their partnership.

The young former Gym Leader would have been unrecognizable to all but his own mother and even she would have been hard pressed to know it was him. His hair, messier than ever and full of leaves and twigs, had grown down past his shoulders – in great need of a haircut and thorough washing. His mouth and chin were completely obscured by an equally long and messy beard (allowed to grow in an effort to keep his face warm as the weather had gotten colder). The clothes he wore were frayed and torn in places from his failed attempts at escaping from the copse of ash trees he'd been forced to camp in by the wild ninetales.

He and his Pokémon were all considerably skinnier than before their failed search for the lost boy. Their rations having lasted only for the first two months they'd been trapped here in the Wilds. If not for the sporadic offerings of berries and nuts from their captors, they might have starved to death a long time ago. It had been a mind boggling situation the man and his six tamed Pokémon found themselves in; for while the wild Pokémon refused to allow them to leave, they obviously didn't want them to perish from a lack of food. Ash would have loved to discuss the situation with Professor Oak but he'd been unable to get a signal for his phone or e-mail and was therefore still out of communication with the outside world.

Ash was depressed too. He knew that the small boy would have been unable to survive this long all alone out in the wilderness. He was too young to find food and shelter on his own and, he feared, too scared of the Pokémon to allow them to help him. In his mind, Ash believed he'd failed the boy he'd grown so fond of in such a short time. And so Ash stopped trying to get away from the wild ninetales and simply sat all day long in front of his fire, his brown eyes dulled with depression and remorse. He still made the effort to take care of his Pokémon friends but even they could no longer cheer him up.

Last night things had gotten worse for the quasi-prisoners when the first snowfall of the changing season had danced down around their shoulders. If not for Charizard's Flamethrower ability, Ash doubted he and Pikachu would have made it through the storm of the ice and snow alive. Ash hadn't anticipated being out here this long, this day marking his eighteenth week trapped out in the middle of nowhere. Four and half months, trapped in the same spot with nothing to do.

On this cold afternoon, with ice crystals hanging from his beard, hair, and eyelashes, Ash sat morosely before the fire sharing what little body heat he had with Pikachu. He'd not seen hide or hair of the ninetales guarding him since just before the snowstorm when they'd brought him and his Pokémon a bunch of nuts and berries. So he was more than a bit startled to hear the wild ninetales start howling suddenly from all around him, something they'd not done since that first night he'd been trapped here in this place.

Standing up slowly, Ash turned around in a slow circle as he watched the surrounding trees and shadows. He stiffened when, from the direction of the mountain, he saw the largest, most frightening ninetales he'd ever seen step into the small clearing. He or she was easily a good five inches taller than Ash; which put this ninetales at close to six feet tall, if not a little taller, when standing on all fours. Its color was also far different than the other wild ninetales, as it was so pale it nearly blended in with the newly fallen snow. The creature's amber eyes were piercing and intelligent as it stared into Ash's very soul as he stood there watching it step closer.

Uncertain of what would happen now, Ash swallowed thickly and slowly sat back down still facing the wild Pokémon. Pikachu poked his head out of the sleeping bag suddenly and sniffed the air delicately before becoming excited. The older Pokémon then wriggled out of Ash's grasp and dashed up to the towering ninetales chattering away.

"Pika, pikapikapika pika pikachu!"

The ninetales yipped twice in response and dropped to its belly, allowing Ash to see the burden it had been carrying on its back. Pure shock had him on his feet in a heartbeat as he stumbled forward in disbelief.

"Sport? Is that you, Champ?" Ash croaked out in a raspy voice as he watched the shivering child on the ninetales' back.

The confirmation actually came from Pikachu who was bouncing around happily, turning somersaults in the air as he ran back and forth between the lounging ninetales and Ash. The ninetales grinned smugly as it lifted the small child down off its back with a couple of tails and set him on his feet between them.

Ash immediately saw the poor kid was naked; his lips and skin tinted blue from the chill of traveling through the frosty morning without a stitch of clothing on. Concerned for the boy, Ash quickly shrugged off his own jacket and rushed forward, tripping over the sleeping bag still wrapped around his legs. Laughing and crying, he picked himself up and wrapped the jacket around the boy who stood stiffly and turned away from him. Ash was crushed. He'd been looking for the kid for so long, just praying he'd be alive and had forgotten how the boy had ended up out here in the first place. He had naively thought the boy would be just as happy to see him as he was to see the boy.

He thought the boy was going to run from him until the huge ninetales nudged the child with a tail and growled softly at the boy. Amazingly, the boy didn't flinch away from the wild Pokémon; instead burying his face in the animal's fur as if he didn't want to leave it. Ash swallowed thickly as he crouched down so he was level with the boy's head.

"Sport, I'm so sorry… I… I don't know what happened after they took you away. They were supposed to take you to the school for young boys and girls in Goldenrod City and something went wrong. I wish I knew what happened and how you ended up here but I don't. I came looking for you… I knew I had to find you… but when I got here, I wasn't allowed to go any further. I think… I think the other ninetales wanted me to wait for you to come to me. Please, Sport, I didn't mean for any of that to happen."

The boy turned his head just enough to meet Ash's gaze, his green eyes filled with a hundred emotions; the most prominent ones uncertainty and pain. What the boy might have done next, Ash would never know because at that moment a tiny blur jumped down off the ninetales' back and landed squarely on the boy's head, shoving the boy face first into the snow.

The child yelped and giggled as the small creature pounced on him again and again while Ash watched the scene in bewilderment. He couldn't remember the boy behaving so… so normally. He was behaving like a child and it brought a lump to his throat to see. Ash wished he knew what had wrought such a change in the serious and frightened child; especially considering that the boy had been virtually alone and helpless out in the middle of the wilderness for months.

_Well, maybe not completely alone,_ Ash thought to himself as he watched the large ninetales, whom he now suspected was female by the way she had been watching the boy wrestle with the smaller creature, poke the boy with her nose, making the child giggle and squirm.

After a few minutes, the boy flopped over onto his back while the smaller creature happily perched on his stomach. It took a few minutes for Ash to identify the small Pokémon once it was standing still, and when he did he was confused. He had battled a good number of vulpix when he was participating in the tournaments and his friend Brock, who was now a well respected Pokémon Breeder, had raised a vulpix while they were traveling together year ago, and this one looked so very different.

For one, it was only a third of the size of a normal vulpix. The coloring was all wrong too, as its fur was a washed out rust-red with slightly darker socks, his belly was a pale cream that almost looked white in places, his mane was an even lighter shade of rust that matched his three tails except where they darkened to the color of dried blood. And its eyes were the most startling shade of blue that reminded Ash of flames. Ash was pulled from his study of the odd vulpix by the boy speaking to him for the first time since he'd appeared with the ninetales.

"What's going to happen to me now?"

"I wish I knew, Sport," Ash replied honestly. "I'd like to take you back home with me but I don't know if the authorities will let me take you with me. You see, because they haven't been able to find your relatives (as far as I last knew), the government wants you to be placed at a boarding school so they can take care of you while they try to find your aunt and uncle. They really were only trying to help you, kid."

"No… he was just like my uncle," the boy whispered, tears filling his eyes as he finally remembered everything that had happened on that long-ago day. "He… he called me '_boy_'." Ash could hear the disgust in the child's voice as he literally spat out the word boy. "He called me stupid and... and retarded. I didn't want… I was so afraid… everything is so blurry; I remember not seeing them and then the sting… he hit me and I saw him sneering down at me. And then I was in a box and I couldn't get out; it was so dark and I was falling over and over… the giant monster that roared and screeched… it chased me into the trees. And… and…"

The boy was in tears at this point and on the verge of a full blown panic attack. Feeling his heart ache for the small child and all he had been forced to endure, Ash gathered him in his arms and simply held him close as the kid finally broke down completely and sobbed wildly.

"It will be alright, Champ, no one will hurt you any more," Ash soothed as he rocked the child back and forth. "You were never supposed to suffer like that and I will do my best to keep it from happening again, if you'll let me."

It wasn't long until the boy fell asleep in his arms, and Ash tenderly tucked him into the abandoned sleeping bag and placed him as close to the fire as he dared. While he was taking care of the boy, the large female ninetales slipped off the odd pack she carried on her back and set it beside Ash's backpack before vanishing into the trees. She returned a bit later with a large, dry branch that she added to the campfire. Ash was astonished by the actions of the ninetales, he'd never heard of wild Pokémon behaving in the fashion that she was; unless they had spent at least some time in the presence of a trainer. He wished he could ask the professor what he knew about ninetales and vulpix right then.

Eventually, the chill in the air drove Ash to join the boy inside the sleeping back to keep warm. They were joined a few minutes later by a much happier Pikachu and the odd little vulpix. With the newly added wood fueling the fire and the added body heat of the boy and the two smaller Pokémon helping to dispel the chill, Ash soon drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>AN 12-05-12:<strong>_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._


	13. Tearful Goodbye

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><em><span>Chapter 13: Tearful Goodbye<span>_

_Monday Morning, December 23, 2002  
>The Lost Wilds – Unexplored Territory<br>Located between Saffron City and Goldenrod City_

Firasia stood vigil over the two humans and her smallest pup through the long, cold night, leaving only to gather the occasional bit of wood to feed the fire. She sensed her fellow ninetales nearby and felt the pull of the fast approaching mating season fluttering just on the edge of her consciousness. That pull conflicted greatly with her desire to understand the man-pup that she'd watched over for the last several months.

_Guardian above, help me,_ Firasia growled to the moon as she huffed and shook herself to clear her mind. _Why do I feel so drawn to this… this… _human? _No, he's not just a human any longer, he's my pup. He's… different now, though I can't say why or how. He's stubborn and aggravating too. By the Nine, I wish I knew what I am supposed to do now!_

Irritated with herself and her internal questioning of her entire way of life, Firasia snorted with disgust and slipped off into the woods to gather more wood. While she searched under snow-covered bushes and dug beneath rotting leaves in her search, she gradually became aware of a single ninetales stalking her trail. She immediately knew who it was and abandoned her search to greet her life mate with puppyish joy.

_Fleetfoot!_ She sang out joyfully as the two of them collided in a mass of tangled tails and limbs.

_Beautiful Firasia, how I have missed you these long months!_ The male ninetales replied as he licked her face and neck. _The pups found me last week, they are remarkable. I've never seen such a pair as those two vulpix! They tied knots in Embersong's tails and my sister may never forgive them for that. They have been sent on their Naming Journey, just this morning._

_If you think those two are troublemakers, you should see their brothers,_ Firasia countered, unknowingly referring to the man-pup as one of her own. _They can outfox the others without trying._

_Four pups? Where are the other two, Firasia?_

The questions brought Firasia back to reality and her uncertainties settled onto her shoulders once again. Regretfully she untangled her tails from her life mate's and moved away from him as she replied. _Only one more pup, Fleetfoot, and he should have never survived First Ember._

_Firasia, what are you…? Is this about the man-pup?_

_Yes._

Fleetfoot studied her intently for several minutes before he dropped to his belly and whined as he inched closer to her. He sensed her inner conflict and feared he would lose her to the world of man. It happened sometimes, a wild Pokémon suddenly feeling drawn to a human, never to be seen by friends and family again. Or worse, a human would simply take a Pokémon against its will, holding it captive for the rest of its life. That's not to say all of the Pokémon taken were treated terribly; most were treated quite well. It was just the suddenness of the capture and the heartbreak of those left behind that made the Pokémon of the Lost Wilds fear the bonds between Pokémon and trainer. It was one of the reasons the Guardians usually did all they could to prevent humans from entering the Wilds.

Firasia gave a low, mournful howl as she nuzzled her life mate tenderly. She loved Fleetfoot with all her heart, which is why her connection to the man-pup confused her so much. After a while, the two ninetales began walking side by side as Firasia slowly began the tale of the months she'd spent healing the man-pup and raising their pups. She spoke of the child's fear in the beginning, of the stubbornness the child had shown in forcing her to care for the runt of the litter, and of the terror she'd felt during the First Ember Ceremony of the smallest pup. She only mentioned magic twice, once in reference to the finding of the man-pup and once after the birth of the pups. Fleetfoot listened to her every word, drinking in her memories so that they became his own.

When she finished, the two of them were standing on the edge of the adult human's camp. The moon long since vanished below the horizon as the sun slowly rose once more into the sky, lighting the dawn with the color of flames. As she watched the man waking from where they sat in the shadows, Firasia felt sadness fill her soul as she realized what she needed to do. Beside her, Fleetfoot whined softly and she nuzzled him reassuringly before slipping into the camp.

Before she said goodbye to her man-pup, Firasia was determined to see the soul of the man who had come looking for the boy. She'd known about him since just after her pups were born, the other ninetales had spoken of his arrival when they sang to the moon at night. He'd been watched constantly as he traveled through the Wilds and they let him, until he got too close to the breeding grounds scattered throughout the foothills.

She'd heard the whispers of how he'd tried to leave numerous times and how he'd never tried to fight his way out. He had Pokémon loyal to him with him, yet he never forced the wild Pokémon to face them in battle. It was as if he didn't want to harm them or maybe he felt he was outnumbered. The man had a Charizard with him; he could have easily overcome the smaller ninetales with a few well placed slashes. And yet he'd ordered his Charizard to be careful and not attack – was he worried about the wild Pokémon? His tame Pokémon? Or maybe both?

She had to know; so Firasia boldly walked up to the man, looked him in the eye, and watched as the man's life unfolded before her mind's eye; the memories brought forth by the magic that flowed through her veins. The things this man had done to protect her fellow Pokémon and the world humbled Firasia as she read his soul's memories. He was a man she would have willingly followed if she'd met him when she was younger and if the man-pup hadn't already claimed that place in her heart. Tearing her eyes away from the man, she turned to wake up the man-pup so she could say goodbye. She knew, deep in her heart, that the small child belonged with his own kind – regardless of how much she might wish otherwise. And this man could do what she could not.

She already knew her youngest and smallest pup would not leave the boy and in some ways she envied that of her son. At least she had the comfort of knowing neither of her youngest pups would be alone beyond the Wilds, for they would have each other.

* * *

><p><em>Monday Morning, December 23, 2002<br>The Lost Wilds – Unexplored Territory  
>Located between Saffron City and Goldenrod City<em>

Ash was still half asleep when the female ninetales from the day before startled him as she slipped out of the shadows in the growing light. She walked right up to him and pressed her nose to his as she stared into his eyes for a long time. He dared not blink as he looked into her eyes, feeling that his very soul was being measured in that moment; much as it had when she'd first appeared the night before. When she turned away, he inexplicably felt bereft, as if he had just lost something precious he hadn't even known he had.

He watched her now, waking the boy up with a few well placed licks in his ear. The scene made him chuckle softly as he got the sense that this was something she'd done often. Once the boy was awake, the ninetales licked his face and rubbed her forehead against his chest; and as she stepped away, Ash was shocked to find tears falling from her eyes. She then stared into the boy's green eyes much the same way she had Ash's just a few minutes before.

This time, when she turned away, she didn't look back as she fled back into the shadows where Ash could see another ninetales waiting for her. Two minutes later, after she glanced back one last time, she voiced a long, low, mournful howl before she and the other ninetales vanished from sight. The sounds of sniffles turned his attention to the boy beside him and he ached for the sadness he saw in the boy's eyes as the kid stared longingly after the ninetales.

"Why did she have to go? Why did she leave me?" The boy asked after nearly an hour of near silence as he'd stared at the place the ninetales had disappeared, his face red and streaked with dirt and tears.

Ash had been digging through his pack for some clothes he could give the boy to wear; he was preparing to head back to the train tracks as he sensed that he'd now be allowed to leave, the most obvious reason for the ninetales keeping him here sitting in camp with him now.

"I don't think she really wanted to leave you, Sport," Ash thoughtfully explained as he used his knife to trim the legs off an extra pair of his pants he pulled out so the boy could wear them without tripping over the bottoms. "Pokémon don't shed many tears in their lives; only when their hearts are broken do they cry. As for why she left; I think she feels she is needed here more than she needed to stay with you. This is her home and we don't really belong here. I think she knew that, which is why she brought you back to me."

"Do you think I'll ever see her again?"

"You never know, there's always the chance that she will one day come looking for you or you might come back here and find her after you've grown. I do know that she'll never forget you or the time you spent together; just as you will never forget her. Here, try this on and see if I made the legs short enough. Hmm… we just need a bit of rope to hold them up but they'll work just fine until we get into town."

Soon the boy was wearing one of Ash's t-shirts that hung down below the kid's knees, the cropped pants with the laces from Ash's shoes masquerading as a belt, two pairs of Ash's socks pulled up to his knees over the legs of the pants to help keep the cold air from creeping up his legs, and the bulky jacket Ash had wrapped him in the night before. Two small red circles, cut from the only emergency tarp Ash had left, were tied around the kid's feet to keep the socks from getting wet in the snow. The poor kid looked completely ridiculous but at least he was no longer in danger of freezing to death now.

Packing up the rest of the camp was a little more difficult, mostly due to the playful nature of the miniature vulpix. The Pokémon kept digging into the pack and pulling things out or grabbing onto the other end of what ever Ash was trying to pick up and playing tug-of-war over the object. The whole time this was going on, the boy sat curled up inside the sleeping bag laughing and giggling. Pikachu seemed to find the entire thing humorous as well because Ash swore the electric Pokémon was giving the boisterous pup verbal and visual encouragement.

By the time they were ready to leave, it was at least an hour passed noon and Ash briefly considered waiting until the next morning to leave. Staying another night would mean unpacking though, and he really was sick of looking at the same thirty or so trees, so in the end they headed south, back towards the train tracks. If it hadn't been so windy, Ash might have asked Charizard to fly them out because it would have been faster but the skies were far too rough this time of year to take a chance, especially with the boy. Ash also worried how the boy might react to seeing the dragon Pokémon again, after his last experience with the large orange Pokémon plucking him off of the ground. Best not open that can of wurmples until they were some place a little more secure.

After they'd been walking for a ways, Ash wondered how far the boy would be able to go before he became too tired to walk. Ash, himself, was already starting to feel the strain on his muscles after spending months in a space of less than forty square feet. Sure, he had been able to move around and do some simple exercises but there wasn't much else he could do at the time. Looking at the boy now, Ash suddenly wondered if he needed to worry about the kid becoming too tired and fussy; said kid was currently skipping alongside the vulpix that stuck to him like glue and looking as chipper as ever. The sight made Ash long for the days when he too had been full of boundless energy.

Near sunset, Ash began looking around for a place to set up camp for the night. He checked out several likely places, but ended up disregarding them for one reason or another. He'd about given up hope of finding a good spot when they came across a large fallen log that had been hollowed out at one point, either by an enterprising Pokémon or the weather. He let the boy play while he proceeded to set up camp.

They'd be sleeping inside the log, where the wind wouldn't be able to get to them as easily. It was also drier inside as the snow stopped after a few inches. It meant that they'd have to keep the campfire outside, so the log didn't catch on fire, but since it was just for the night he figured it would be fine. After setting his backpack and the strange carrying baskets of food the ninetales had left for them inside the log, Ash set about digging up several rocks about the size of his hand, to line the fire pit with.

He'd just finished clearing a two foot circle of the snow and decaying leaves out of his way and ringing the bare ground with the rocks when he finally noticed the boy and the vulpix were missing. Pikachu was no where to be seen either so Ash tried not to worry too much because he knew Pikachu would protect the boy if there was trouble. Still, he'd only had the boy back in his possession for a single day and already he was missing again.

Ash was just about ready to call out his other Pokémon to look for the missing trio when they walked boldly into the campsite dragging a goodly amount of dry wood for the fire. He briefly wondered where they'd found wood that was not too green or covered in snow, but he quickly put the mystery out of his mind as he helped the boy break the larger branches into smaller pieces that would fit inside the ring of rocks.

When that was finished, the boy disappeared into the log and began digging through the berries and nuts. Ash watched him curiously, wondering why he was only gathering certain kinds of berries. The experienced trainer knew some of the berries were like medicine for the Pokémon but he didn't know enough about the different kinds to distinguish one kind from the next for the most part. He'd never bothered learning because his Pokémon tended to find them on their own, or he took them to a Pokémon Center to be healed instead. A few minutes later, the boy carried out a good number of berries and just a few of the larger nuts. It took him three trips to bring them all, because some of them were fairly large but he managed pretty well considering he was still so small.

"What are you doing with those, Sport? They your favorites?" Ash asked as he took a good look at the assortment. There were three large round blue berries with tiny gray-blue stems, one huge yellow pear shaped berry with orange spots, four small round berries the size of the boy's palm that were yellow with blue circles on it, and six tiny round berries that looked like dark blue marbles with lighter blue splotches on them.

"No, most of them taste kind of icky; they're all sour or bitter. But the mummy wolf-creature showed me these ones are good to eat when you're tired and cold."

"Wolf-creature? You mean the big ninetales that brought you to my camp yesterday?"

"Ninetales? Is she called that because of her tails? I didn't know her name."

"Yes, I believed they are named for their number of tails. How did she teach you which berries to eat?"

"She usually made me, or one of her puppies, eat them when we were sick or hurt." He replied as he carefully divided all but two of the berries into four piles. "Can you cut these ones in half, please?" Each pile received one of the halves after they'd been cut.

"Did you need me to split the largest berry?"

"No, that one is for you because you're tired and you're bigger than me, the pup, or the shock-mouse."

"Ah, that makes since, I suppose. Shock-mouse? I suppose it's a good thing Pikachu likes you or other wise he might take offense to you calling him that."

"Why do you call him Peekachew, is that his name or what he is?"

"Pikachu," Ash automatically corrected when the boy slurred the word a bit due to his accent. "And I guess it is both. He is the Pokémon called pikachu and I've always called him Pikachu. He doesn't seem to mind."

The boy seemed to take that in stride as he began eating the smaller berries first while making faces at what must be the sour flavor. Ash agreed with that assessment of the berry when he bit into his own and felt his eyes water from the potent flavor. The boy had the nerve to giggle about the faces he was making.

When they finished the berries, the boy cracked the nuts open using one of the left over rocks that Ash had collected. The boy then trotted over to one of the nearby willow trees and broke off one of the long thin branches. Using the rock again, the boy split the first twenty inches or so pliant vine like branch into two lengthwise and tied each of the thinner bits around one of the nuts that were still inside their broken shells. Next the boy grabbed a long sturdy branch he and the vulpix had brought to feed the fire and tied the other end of the willow branch to the wood. When he held it up, the contraption resembled a finishing pole. The kid then proceeded to roast the nuts over the fire.

Ash was half tempted to stop the boy but he was far too curious about the efficiency of the kid's actions to follow through on the thought. If he judged the situation right, this wasn't the first time the boy had roasted food over an open fire. Recalling how easily both the boy and the vulpix gathered the proper kind of wood he was pretty sure he was right. And it made sense. The boy had been living with at least two fire Pokémon, maybe more, for the last several months. He was bound to have spent a good amount of time near open flames.

Later, as they each enjoyed the fire roasted nuts, Ash asked a question that had been on his mind since the boy had been delivered to him by a wild Pokémon. "Hey, Sport, would you tell me what else you did and saw while you were living with the ninetales?"

The boy frowned as he gave the last half of his nut to the vulpix who'd been whining up at him for the last two minutes. Instead of answering though, he just lifted one shoulder in a half hearted shrug that seemed to convey uncertainty.

"You don't have to tell me anything, if you don't want to, but I was curious. Last I knew, you thought all Pokémon were monsters and now here you are sharing your desert with a wild Pokémon. I just wondered what happened to make you change your mind about the Pokémon."

"Oh, okay, I guess it was different. I didn't know they were Pokémon at first. I thought they were just plain dogs. It was dark in the cave where they lived and that's where I woke up. I don't know how I got there. The mummy wolf… the mummy ninetales wasn't feeding the runty one, so I scolded her and told her that he needed her too. She was grumpy for a bit after that but she didn't push him away again."

"You scolded the mother ninetales? Just like that? And she listened to you? How many pups were there? And when did you find out she was a Pokémon?"

"She listened okay, I guess. There were three pups; the other boy and the girl were both much bigger, nearly twice the size as this one here and they were a different color. I was holding this little guy when I found out he had three tails. That was only a couple of days after I first woke up, I think. I was so scared the mummy was going to eat me after that 'cause I thumped her on the nose when she tried to push the littlest one away the first time."

"You thumped her on the nose, and scolded her, all because she didn't want to take care of the runt?" Ash repeated in shock, his mind screaming that the boy was damn lucky he hadn't been barbequed on the spot. Fire Pokémon were known for their tempers, far more so than any of the other types except for a few of the dragon and fighting types; especially when it came to protecting their young. "Wow… she… just wow."

"After that she took care of me and she'd let me watch the puppies while she went out for food. Playing with the pups was fun. I'll miss the other two; but this one, he's special. He always followed me everywhere."

"I've never seen a vulpix quite like him before, so he must be extra special."

"Vulpicks? What are those?"

"Vulpix, that's what the pups are. Vulpix is the pre-evolutionary form of ninetales. When he's old enough, he can evolve into a ninetales if he eats a special stone called a firestone. Not all Pokémon wish to evolve though. Take my Pikachu, for example, he has had several chances to eat a thunderstone so he could evolve into a raichu, but he chose not to take them," Ash explained.

"Why aren't they called 'sixtales'? Wouldn't that make more sense? Or why not call ninetales 'vulpines' then, so the names at least match."

"I don't know how all of the Pokémon got their names. You would be better off asking Professor Oak, he might actually know the reasons behind the different names. He might have even helped name some of them."

"Oh. Would he know why the pups – the vul… vulpix ate the fire when their eyes first opened?"

"Yes, he knows quite a bit about all the different… wait; did you say the vulpix were eating the fire?"

"Yes, the mummy wol – ninetales made a big fire in the cave and she put the first two puppies in the fire. I thought she was killing them. But then I saw them playing the in the fire with their eyes open. I didn't see them eat the fire but when she put the last boy in there, he ate the bright red bits of wood from the fire and he glowed all over. He was so hot, his fur burned my arm all the way up to my armpit when I touched him but the mummy ninetales gave me a berry that made the burn go way."

Ash was flabbergasted. He'd never heard of _any_ Pokémon eating embers before. He wasn't sure if the professor had heard or seen anything like it before. And that the boy had _witnessed_ the event first hand, why, this could be a groundbreaking discovery that could unlock untold information about the Pokémon. It could… it could also mean trouble. Ash's instincts were kicking up a fit in the back of his mind as he thought about what would happen if that kind of information got out to the general public. There were the unsavory types, like the mostly retired Team Rocket, who would love to get their hands on that kind of information. To do that, they'd need to get their hands on the boy, his wild vulpix, and the mother ninetales. That meant if others discovered what the boy had seen, then an untold number of researchers, collectors, and trainers invade the Wilds and capture any vulpix and ninetales that they came across.

"Professor Oak might know but chances are no one has ever seen or even heard of the vulpix eating ember before," Ash finally stated as his head buzzed uncomfortably. "I think… I think it might be best if we keep that information to ourselves right now, until we can speak to Professor Oak."

"Why?"

"There are bad people out there who would hurt and capture the ninetales and vulpix, especially your friend here, if they thought there was something extra special about them."

"Oh. There were bad people on the other side of the door too," the boy whispered as he slunk away from the fire and crawled into the sleeping bag that Ash had laid out earlier.

The strange comment stirred other memories Ash had of the boy making odd comments but he didn't give it much thought because he was too worried about the possibilities of having to face a newly reactivated Team Rocket once more. After a while, the cold and the half a day spent traveling brought his churning thoughts to a standstill and he followed the boy to bed.

* * *

><p><strong>AN 12-05-12:<strong>_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._


	14. Seeking Civilization

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><em><span>Chapter 14: Seeking Civilization<span>_

_Thursday Evening, August 15, 1985  
>Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts Castle<br>Scotland_

Albus Dumbledore was practically foaming at the mouth. He'd spent the last two weeks trying to hunt down the slightest trace of the missing Boy-Who-Lived. He now had a killer migraine that would have dropped even the largest, strongest dragon to its knees and none of the usual potions seemed to be able to do anything for it.

He'd moved through his list of possible suspects but every single one of them was clean. Black was still rotting away under the hospitality of the dementors, the werewolf was scraping muggle coins out of the gutter for food, the Longbottoms were still insane and in St. Mungo's, Amelia Bones was up to her neck in backlogged paperwork, McGonagall was safely out of the country visiting family, and Hagrid hadn't left the castle in a fortnight.

Albus had even sought the minds of those who might wish to kill the boy, rather than save him. But those Death Eaters still walking free, and there were a good number of them, knew nothing of any plots or kidnappings of the young Potter heir. Not even the Malfoys, who were the 'old' money behind Voldemort's campaign during the late sixties and all of the seventies, had been aware of any plot to kidnap or rescue the wretched boy. It was maddening that the boy could have disappeared so thoroughly, if only because he hadn't been the one to dispose of him. He also couldn't be sure the boy was well and truly dead unless he saw the body or the device that was linked to the boy's life force declared him dead, neither of which had happened over the course of the last two weeks.

In a complete fit of rage, the angry headmaster turned his wand on the transfigured phoenix and fired a dark, flesh eating curse at it. When nothing but a pile of ashes remained, he sat down at his desk and rubbed his temples wearily. He knew he'd have to replace the damned bird before any of the other staff returned to the school but he had plenty of time to find another dove.

Now if he could just replace the boy as easily…

Albus sat up with a jerk as the thought played through his mind. A clone; transfigured from wood, stone, metal, blood, and glass might just be what he was looking for. It would prevent anyone from finding out about the missing boy and would give him more time to locate the real brat. He'd have to update it periodically until he was found but that shouldn't be an issue; he knew he could find the time during the various school holidays. The Dursleys would have to have their memories modified to account for the missing time but he wasn't too worried about them since they were rather simple minded muggles.

What could possibly go wrong?

* * *

><p><em>Saturday Evening, December 28, 2002<br>Pallet Town, Kanto Region_

Delia stood on the edge of town watching the road north to Viridian City with tears in her eyes as snow lightly swirled to the ground around her. Every day from dawn till dusk, for the last four months, she's stood there at the edge of the road waiting. Every night as she returned numb and alone to her house, she cried herself to sleep as she prayed for her missing son and the child he'd gone to find.

When he'd left five months ago, to track down any clues he might find of what had happened to the lost boy he'd saved from the wild spearow, he'd promised to check in with her and the professor daily. In the beginning, he'd done just that. Then the day came when all communications were lost. Worse still was that ever since he'd been cut off during that final call to Professor Oak, they'd been unable to reach him by phone or by e-mail. They hadn't even been able to send a search party to follow him into the Wilds because they didn't know where he was, other than somewhere between Goldenrod and Saffron.

She should be used to this by now, after all the times her boy had gotten into trouble over the years as he traveled all around the world; yet she couldn't help worrying every time he landed in trouble. She hated it. Hated that he had an endless thirst for adventure as well as a 'saving people and Pokémon thing' and that he felt the need to put himself in harm's way because he thought he had to help. Yet she loved him for his selflessness at the same time. He had a big heart and he was stubborn to the core; and she wouldn't have him any other way.

She did so wish he wouldn't go looking for trouble so often though.

"Come inside, Delia, there's no point in catching a cold (or worse) standing out here in the snow," Professor Oak admonished gently as he stepped up beside Delia. "We both know Ash can take care of himself; he's too stubborn to do any less. He's probably just out of range to pick up a signal and as soon as he can he'll give us a call and we'll find out he's been roasting marshmallows and acorns, having a grand old time. Just you wait and see."

"I wish I shared your optimism, professor," Delia replied tiredly as she reluctantly allowed the older man to lead her away from her vigil. "He's never disappeared for this long before and he was just so angry and upset about what happened to that poor boy. I do so worry about him."

"We all worry about him, dear, and the authorities are monitoring the tracks day and night as well as both entrances of the Lost Wilds and they'll call us the moment he turns up."

"I hope you're right," Delia whispered as they entered the house where a worried Mr. Mime was shifting from foot to foot. "I hope you're right."

* * *

><p><em>Thursday Afternoon, January 09, 2003<br>The Lost Wilds – Unexplored Territory  
>Located between Saffron City and Goldenrod City<em>

The journey out of the forest took them well over two and a half weeks between the slow starts in the morning, courtesy of one playful and mischievous vulpix, and the foul weather that turned up the third night of travel. When they finally got clear of the last stand of trees, it was to find the world bathed in crystals of ice and snow, and Ash moaned as he realized it was going to be even more difficult traveling through the grassland because they'd be at the mercy of the freezing winds day and night. He also knew that any familiar landmarks or old trails would be covered by the thick blanket of snow.

"This is no good," Ash muttered under his breath as he searched the land in front of him to the left and right.

Beside him the boy was looking peaky, it had been a rough day of travel as their food had been running extremely low these last few days and the few berry bushes they had been able find under the snow had already been stripped bare of fruits by the wild Pokémon. After glancing back at the boy, where he leaned wearily against a tree just a few feet behind him, Ash came to a decision.

"Hey, Sport," Ash called as he walked back beside the boy and crouched down so that he was level with the child. "We can't keep walking like this; especially out there where there are no trees to protect us from the wind and snow. There's only one way out of this mess and I need you to be brave, alright?" The boy gazed up at him for several long minutes before he nodded his head slowly in agreement. "That's the spirit," Ash praised fondly as he ruffled the boy's tangled mop of hair.

Standing up, Ash moved a short ways out away from the trees and released Charizard from his pokéball. The dragon Pokémon stretched languidly before shivering in the frigid air as he leaned down to nuzzle Ash on the chest. Back at the edge of the forest, the boy stiffened at the sight of the orange dragon but didn't move. He obviously remembered the dragon Pokémon from before and still felt at least a little afraid of him. Ash gave the boy some time to get used to seeing the huge Pokémon before he walked back over to him with Charizard following behind.

"You okay, Champ? Good, just relax, Charizard is really just a big softy when it comes to kids. He's also the strongest Pokémon I have with me. We need him to fly us out of here, and unfortunately it's not going to be easy with all the winds and the storms we've been having, so I'm going to need you to do exactly what I say so we can get through this together. Can you do that?"

"I… I think so," the boy replied skittishly as he eyed the dragon Pokémon distrustfully.

"Perfect, that's all I ask. The first thing we need to do is have your friend there climb into my backpack with Pikachu so he won't fall off or get left behind."

The young vulpix balked for a moment but a low, warning growl from Charizard soon had him climbing into the backpack. The next hitch in the plans came when it was time to climb onto Charizard's back and the boy froze up in fear as he stared up at the dragon with wide eyes the moment the Pokémon stepped closer and hunkered down. Once they worked through that, Ash lifted the boy up first, climbed on behind him, and wrapped his arms around the boy to keep him from slipping off as Charizard jumped up into the air.

Keeping low, where the winds weren't too ghastly, they flew in a westerly direction, back towards Saffron City which was currently closer than Goldenrod City. They covered a bit more ground than they would have if they would have tried to cross the grasslands on foot but they still hadn't reached the edge of the Wilds before the sun began to set. Ash had Charizard land before they lost the last of the light and they moved a short way into the forest so that the trees could offer them at least a little protection from the elements.

The next morning, with Charizard's help in keeping the vulpix out of trouble, they managed to get camp packed up in record time and the group was soon soaring over the grasslands once more. They traveled twice as much ground this day and Ash figured that they were getting closer to the hidden entrance of the service road. Another night was spent amongst the trees. In the morning, with the vulpix behaving on his own for once, they were ready to go before the sun had fully risen. This time Ash took a chance and had Charizard head in a south-westerly direction to search for the train tracks that he prayed would be free of snow. He knew the magnet train didn't run during most of the winter, especially once the snow started falling, but he hoped it was still early enough in the season that they hadn't stop the trains.

Luck was against them. By noon they still hadn't seen any sign of the tracks and Ash feared they'd passed over them buried somewhere under the snow. They could still be somewhere up ahead but if they kept going and he guessed wrong, they'd never be able to make it back to the forest's edge before sunset and he didn't want to be forced to spend the night on the plains – especially when it looked like there was another storm brewing while the temperatures had been dropping steadily all day.

He was just about to ask Charizard to angle back towards the north when he heard the sound of sweet music in his ears. Well, it wasn't exactly sweet. Heck, technically it wasn't even music. But it sure sounded both musical and sweet to his ears. Turning around to look over his shoulder, Ash saw the welcome sight of a search and rescue helicopter heading towards Saffron City. Giving a shout of pure joy and relief at having been found, Ash directed Charizard to land.

Ten minutes later, wrapped in heated blankets and firmly strapped into their seats, they were once more flying though the sky as the rescue team headed back to Saffron City. The boy, more than a bit chilled from riding on Charizard's back as they flew, and tired from their long journey, was curled up against his side as Ash fiddled with his PokéNav. Ten minutes away from the city, he finally got a signal strong enough to phone out and he immediately called his mother's house. When she didn't pick up, he left a message and called Professor Oak; thinking she might be at the lab. Again there was no answer. Wondering where they could be, he left another message and let the professor know he'd try calling back again later before he turned off the device and leaned back in his seat.

Running a hand over his face tiredly, Ash sighed before glancing down at the messy haired boy snuggled up against him. He knew the hardest leg of their journey was still ahead of them, because it was going to be an uphill battle fighting for custody of the boy. And fight he would. There was no way he was ever going to let the boy out of his sight again, especially knowing the kid was turning out to be as big of a trouble magnet as he had been when he was younger (conveniently forgetting he had never stopped attracting trouble). Leaning his head back against the head rest, Ash closed his eyes and listened to the blades of the helicopter cutting through the air as the machine carried them one step closer to home.

* * *

><p><em>Saturday Evening, January 11, 2003<br>Unnamed Café, Goldenrod City  
>Johto Region<em>

In a run down café, deep in the heart of Goldenrod city, a middle aged man and woman sat at a table drinking nothing but water. On the bench beside the woman, an old meowth with a few streaks of gray around his muzzle snored raggedly. The woman's long red hair and the man's not so long blue hair both showed a few hints of gray as well, which was hardly surprising since both the man and the woman were somewhere in their thirties and had obviously seen a lot of stress in their lifetimes. The clothes the couple (that were, under no circumstance an actual _couple_) both were wearing were thread-bare white outfits with two overlapping red 'R's stitched onto the front.

They were paying very little attention to their surroundings, until a news bulletin cut through the scheduled program on the television hanging from the ceiling near the bar. The thing that had caught their attention was the name of the person the news flash was about and the pair whipped around to listen to the news caster's short spiel.

"_Family and friends are rejoicing this evening as Ash Ketchum, former Gym  
>Leader of the Slateport Gym in the Hoenn Region, was found today after<br>reportedly going missing some five and a half months earlier, in the Lost Wilds  
>between Saffron City and Goldenrod City. <em>

_As most of our viewers are aware, the Lost Wilds have long been rumored to  
>be inhospitable and inaccessible to man since just after the tracks were laid<br>for the magnet train that connects Saffron City and Goldenrod City. How Mr.  
>Ketchum managed to survive in that harsh land for five long months is a<br>complete mystery. _

_Added to the mystery, is the revelation that the small missing boy, rumored to  
>have jumped from the magnet train to his death shortly before Mr. Ketchum<br>went missing back in August of last year, and the reason Mr. Ketchum ventured  
>into the Wilds in the first place, was found very much alive by the recently<br>rescued trainer. _

_Investigations have been initiated into the events surrounding the obviously false  
>reports of the child's death, and foul play is suspected, though there are no<br>suspects at this time. _

_Details of the pair's harrowing journey will be aired on the eleven o'clock news  
>later tonight. Be sure to join us then to find out what these two survivors have to<br>say about their stay in the Lost Wilds. This is Mercy Highlander bringing you the  
>latest news.<em>"

"Even now the little twerp has better luck than us, Jessie," The man growled without any real heat. "Why can't we catch a lucky break for once?"

"Spending over five months in the Lost Wilds is hardly what I'd call luck, James," Jessie countered as she glared at the man sitting across from her. "I'd much rather be here than have to spend even one night in that wretched stretch of land."

"True. I wonder what he was doing in there all that time though. Do you think he discovered any new, previously unheard of Pokémon?"

"Apparently he was looking for some lost brat, Mr. Goody-Too-Shoes rushing in the save the day as usual, no doubt. Why else would he go there?"

"Or maybe he was looking for the fabled breeding grounds of the ninetales," the meowth interjected as the cat-like creature stretched his legs and glared up at his longtime teammates. "Personally, I don't care what he was doing there. I'm perfectly happy sleeping inside where it's nice and warm for once."

Jessie and James looked at each other as the words 'fabled breeding grounds' echoed in their minds before they slowly shook their heads. As much as they would have liked to go out on one last adventure, Meowth was right. It was much warmer and safer inside and here they didn't have to worry about smart mouthed kids attacking them every five minutes. Besides, ever since old man Giovanni retired two years earlier, Team Rocket had been disbanded and scattered across the five regions. There was no money in organized crime these days.

Content with their unsatisfying lot, at least for the moment, Jessie and James put all thoughts of Ash Ketchum and his annoying little pikachu out of their mind as they went back to drinking their water.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> _I couldn't resist the cameo with Jessie, James, and Meowth… The three of them always crack me up. For some odd reason they always reminded me of Wile E Coyote getting beat up by his own inventions and the Roadrunner all the time. *snickers* Anyway… this is the only time we'll see the trio in this story, as much as I like them, I had no plans to resurrect Team Rocket for this story… as I figured I had an antagonist enough in my deranged and evil Albus. Anyhow… hope you enjoyed the chapter. ~ Jenn_

**AN 12-05-12:**_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._


	15. Complications in the Aftermath

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><em><span>Chapter 15: Complications in the Aftermath<span>_

_Saturday Evening, January 11, 2003  
>Saffron Hospital, Saffron City<br>Kanto Region_

The moment he stepped down out of the helicopter with the sleeping boy cradled in his arms, Ash was forced to fight off a dozen reporters shoving video cameras and microphones in his face, three officers attempting to wrestle the child out of his arms, at least five scientists all clamoring for details of what he experienced in the Lost Wilds, and close to a hundred other gawkers that just wanted to see him. Growling with frustration and worried about the boy and the hidden vulpix in his bag, Ash did the only thing he could do. He tossed a pokéball into the air and called for Venusaur to come out.

Thick green vines split the crowd in half and opened up a corridor that Ash promptly began to traverse as he repeatedly told the press and the scientists 'no comment' while glaring at the officers who seemed determined to separate him from the boy. Once he was relatively free of the nosy and noisy crowd, Ash whirled on the officers and firmly told them off.

"We've just spent five months exposed to the harsh conditions of the Lost Wilds and you are insisting on taking custody of this child before he's even seen a doctor? What kind of officers are you? Isn't it bad enough that you people lost him in the first place? He was written off as a poor statistic the moment he vanished and labeled a suicide without a proper investigation! You left him to survive on his own, in one of the harshest places known to man, and you expect me to just hand him over!? I don't think so. I managed to protect and care for him with the help of my mother for over two weeks and the moment you folks got your hands on him, you lost him. Well, damn it, I just spent close to half a year tracking him down and I'll be damned if I'm going to just hand him over. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a child that needs to see a doctor."

He'd barely moved six steps away from the shell-shocked and shame-faced policemen when he felt his ear grabbed in a well remembered finger hold.

"We spend eight years following him around the world, suffering through all kinds of misadventures, and the moment we all get jobs he thinks he can just up and quit his to go traipsing off into forbidden wilds on a whim without even a farewell? Oh, how low the mighty Pokémon Master has fallen from his grace. It shames me to even call him my friend."

"Hi, Misty, I missed you too," Ash sheepishly said as he subtlety tried to free his ear from the irate redhead.

Misty glared at him in response for several minutes before she relented and squeezed the life out of him instead of punching his lights out. Of course, it helped that he was holding a cute kid in his arms too.

"You will be giving us a detailed explanation after you see the doctor, or you won't live to regret leaving us behind," Misty ordered as the two of them fell into step beside the tall and silent Brock, who was currently studying the child in Ash's arms.

"Of course, Misty, I wouldn't dream of doing otherwise."

The three of them walked for a ways in silence, each of them comfortable just to be with the others. They'd just stepped inside of the stairwell leading down into the hospital when the group was waylaid once more, this time by a sobbing, but happy and relieved, Delia Ketchum and a smiling Professor Oak.

"My baby, Ash, I was so worried!" Delia cried as she pulled him into her arms.

"Mom, I'm fine, really. I just couldn't get a signal; we weren't really in any danger. At least, not until after winter set in – but with Charizard there we pulled through just fine."

"It's good to see you safe and sound, Ash; you did give us quite a scare there, disappearing like you did. I'd be willing to bet you had an interesting vacation. I see you also found our wayward friend, I trust he is well?"

"It's good to be back, Professor; it was a wild trip, that's for sure. Sport here should be just fine, it was a rough journey getting back but he was a real trooper. We should get him downstairs for a check-up though, because he's been through quite a bit."

"You go ahead, Ash, I see a few old friends of mine and I think I'll just go say a quick hello," Professor Oak replied as he gave Ash a pat on the shoulder and headed towards the group of researchers gathered out on the roof.

By the time they finally got in to see the doctor, the boy had woken up from all of the various interruptions and delays, including two more attempts from the officers to extract the boy from Ash's arms. Both attempts were met with staunch resistance though and more than a few sharp words. In the end, it took an angry Pikachu charging his Thunderbolt Attack to convince them to back off for the time being.

Delia, being the mother she was, scolded Ash the moment the policemen were out of hearing, much to the amusement of Misty. Ash endured the lecture by simply ignoring it, knowing he'd do it again if the need arose. He'd made a promise to the timid child and he had every intention of keeping that promise.

Once awake, the boy was quickly overwhelmed with the number of people surrounding him. He'd never spent much time around many strangers, really only seeing his aunt, uncle, and cousin day in and day out; except on the days when Dudley's friends were over and they chased him around the house. So he felt extremely nervous to suddenly be thrust into what was, to him, a huge crowd of people he didn't know, especially after spending five months in near solitude while living with the ninetales family; it made him sink back into his shell.

When Misty, being the outgoing young woman she was, tried to take him from Ash's arms, he freaked out. Misty felt horrible after that, and apologized repeatedly every time the boy so much as looked her way. Brock teased her mercilessly until she threatened to hurt him. Ash just silently laughed at his two friends; the pair had had an on again off again relationship over the past two years and often still behaved as the clueless teenagers they'd been when they first met. He thought it was kind of cute now that he no longer harbored a crush on the vivacious redhead.

The doctor was a kind old man that worked silently as he checked the boy's eyes, ears, and mouth for signs of infection or other problems. He also listened to the boy's heart and lungs before testing his reflexes. He then asked a few simple questions about how the boy was feeling, before pronouncing him in mostly good health with nothing more than a simple cold that a good rest would cure in no time. Finished, the mismatched group headed back up to the roof where Professor Oak's research helicopter was waiting to take them home.

That night, Ash enjoyed a long, hot soak in the tub. His first bath in half a year, and it felt so wonderful, he was tempted to sleep in the tub all night. He'd spent a good hour before getting in the tub shaving off the horrible beard he'd grown while trapped in the forest. Being clean made him feel halfway human again and it was a feeling that he greatly appreciated. He'd have to get up to Viridian City sometime later that week to get his hair cut though, him and the boy both.

A brisk knock at the door a short while later let Ash know that supper was ready and after moaning regretfully at the thought of getting out, he pulled the plug and ran fresh water to rinse off the last of the suds that clung to his skin. He then dressed quickly before rinsing the last of the dirt out of the bottom of the tub so it didn't stain as it dried. And also so his mother didn't tan his hide for leaving the bathroom a mess, though she had once again encouraged the boy to make a mess when he had taken his bath before Ash got his turn.

Downstairs, he found a light meal of turkey sandwiches and vegetable soup waiting for him with fresh baked bread to go with it. He gave his mom a kiss on the cheek as he took his seat and thanked her for her troubles. Delia just lightly cuffed his head and told him to eat because he looked like was nothing but skin and bones. Ash laughed softly as he agreed with his mother, fully aware of how loosely his clothes now fit after his ordeal. All during the meal, Misty and Brock peppered him with questions about what he'd done during the months he'd been gone with his mother occasionally asking one of her own.

Passed out on the couch, curled up with the odd vulpix, was the boy. As of yet, no one but Ash and the boy even knew the wild vulpix was in the house but his mother was sure to find out soon. Ash mainly worried about outsiders, meaning anyone who wasn't named Misty or Brock and who didn't live in Pallet Town, finding out about the vulpix. Everyone else could be trusted not to try and capture the Pokémon for whatever reason. Professor Oak might want to study the little guy but he wouldn't harm the vulpix or make the boy give it up to do so.

After he finished eating, Ash quietly cleaned up his dishes and bid his friends goodbye as they took their leave. A few minutes later, he bid his mother goodnight (after giving her a hug, telling her he loved her, and that he was sorry for making her worry while he'd been gone). He then spread his sleeping bag out on the floor below the couch, so he would be nearby when the boy woke up in the morning, and went to sleep.

* * *

><p><em>Saturday Night, January 11, 2003<br>Ketchum Home, Pallet Town  
>Kanto Region<em>

The boy was dreaming of the cave, he could see the mummy ninetales lounging in the nest with the three pups greedily nursing from her belly as they made odd little grunting noises. It was a peaceful dream, one that soothed the boy's aching heart from the pain of the long separation from the only mother he could remember; and the ninetales had been a mother to him during the five months he lived with her. She had taken him into her home, healed him, fed him, and taught him how to take care of himself. She had also taught him how to play and laugh and how to see beyond a creature's looks to see the soul inside. She showed him what love was.

His dream self smiled at the family and hurried forward to join them in the nest when the dream suddenly turned dark and foreboding. Angry red and black smoke flooded the cave as the entire roof was torn away by a huge metal monster, the mother ninetales howled in fear as hands tore her puppies from her side and trapped her in a wire net. The boy shouted at the men in black uniforms but they ignored him. They laughed as they roughly handled the puppies before locking them into a thick metal crate.

The mother ninetales fought bravely, trapped as she was, injuring several of the men who had poured forth from the mouth of the metal monster. This angered the men for they yelled and screamed at the wild Pokémon as they aimed guns at her. The boy screamed as the angry report of a rifle filled the ruined cave and a single man, his face bathed in shadows, turned to face the boy for the first time. _"Thank you, for helping us, Boy. We never would have found them without you."_

The dream changed abruptly then; and another man, wearing a long black cloak that hid his face, pointed a long thin stick at the woman with long dark red hair. The boy, watching from between wooden bars, cried as the woman, whom he somehow knew to be his real mother, begged and pleaded for the man to have mercy. The man just shoved her aside though and fired a green light from the little stick that headed right for the boy. His mother threw herself in front of the light to protect the child and her body fell slowly and gracefully to the floor where she lay unmoving.

The man then walked up to where the boy stood crying, and as the child looked up, he could see glowing red eyes staring down at him as the man raised the stick one more time. _"She didn't have to die, you know, if not for you she would have been spared. All because of you…" _

The man laughed then, a high pitched sound that grated on the boy's ears, and green light poured forth from the stick. As the green light touched the boy's forehead in his dream, he felt unimaginable pain…

The child woke up screaming wildly as he tried to fight his way free of the blankets that trapped him. He could feel the blood running down his face from the scar on his forehead as the burning pain he felt in his dream cascaded through his head. The smell of the blood and the memories of the visions from his dreams made his tummy churn violently and promptly turned to the side and vomited. Over and over again his stomach lurched until his belly was empty and still he felt the dry heaves rack his body.

A cool cloth on his neck made the boy flinch, before he heard the familiar sound of Ash's voice filling his ears with whispered reassurances. Eventually, his agitated tummy began to settle and he weakly pressed his face into the cushions of the couch as he sobbed feebly. He could feel Ash's hand rubbing gentle circles on his back and he could feel his body relaxing into the comforting touch, until he remembered the first half of his dream vision.

"They found her! They took her puppies and… and the men shot her when she fought them! We have to save mummy ninetales! Please! They only found her because of me, we have to save her!" The child babbled out in a panic as he grabbed hold of Ash's arm and shook it desperately.

"It was just a dream, Champ; her puppies were all grown up. Remember? And the smallest is here with you, safe and sound. See, he's right here beside me, watching you," Ash calmly rationalized as he gently wiped the bile from the boy's mouth before noticing the darker fluid covering the boy's face. "What is…?"

The boy felt the man lean closer to him and run the cloth over the rest of his face, clearing away the sticky blood. When the rough fabric of the cloth brushed over the scar the boy cried out involuntarily as his head exploded in excruciating pain.

The light from the upstairs hallway flicked on and bathed the couch with gentle light as Delia hurried down from above in her bathrobe. "What's happened, Ash? Is everything okay?"

"He just had a nightmare, mom," Ash explained. "I think he hit his head on the table or something though because he's cut his forehead open. Can you get me another wet washcloth and a large band-aide?"

The child heard Delia hurry off to collect the requested materials, her footsteps oddly echoing in his ears as he whimpered again and leaned away from the wash cloth that was now pressing gently against his scar. When Ash's mother returned, she passed the items to her son and then turned on the lamp beside the couch so they could see his head more clearly.

The brighter light burned the boy's eyes and he tried to bury his face into the mattress to protect them. There were hands holding his head still though, and soon he felt them cleaning off his scar. The pain only got worse with each brush of the cloth and when they pressed on his to quell the bleeding, he screamed out shrilly as the pain tore through his head like a hot knife.

He must have blacked out for a while, because when he was next aware of his surroundings he was in clean pajamas, felt something taped to his forehead, was tucked in under different blankets, and could feel the warm pillow beneath him breathing. Opening his eyes, he twisted his head around just enough to catch a glimpse of Ash's face in the soft moonlight coming in from the windows and automatically relaxed. Feeling safer, knowing that he wasn't alone, he closed his eyes and drifted off back to sleep.

Above him on the back of the couch, bright blue eyes watched over the sleeping boy.

* * *

><p><em>Friday Afternoon, January 24, 2003<br>Ketchum Home/Professor Oak's Lab  
>Pallet Town, Kanto Region<em>

Professor Oak was ecstatic about the discovery of the wild vulpix that didn't quite look like a vulpix. He poked and prodded the diminutive creature until it nipped his hand in irritation, and then he began scanning it with various instruments around the lab while Ash watched on in amusement and the boy frowned from where he sat sullenly under one of the tables. As he sat there, Ash couldn't help thinking about everything that had been happening over the two weeks since they'd been back in Pallet Town.

The professor had spent nearly five hours trying to get the boy to answer questions about living with the ninetales when the presence of the vulpix had been discovered two days after their return but the boy hadn't been very forthcoming; which wasn't all too surprising considering that he'd been experiencing the terrifying nightmares on a near constant basis since they had gotten back. The only times he seemed to sleep through the nights were when he slept with Ash on the couch or up in Ash's bedroom. Even if he was just napping during the afternoon, after spending the morning running around outside in the garden with the vulpix, he woke up screaming.

The worst part though was the blood. Every time he had the nightmare, the boy's scar would tear open and pour blood down the boy's face. They'd tried stitching the strange wound shut with surgical sutures but the specially treated threads would simply dissolve within minutes of being applied. Pressure bandages didn't seem to help stop the blood, and from the boy's screams, they actually caused him severe pain when used. They were pretty much at a loss as to how to treat the injury and were actually discussing taking him to the nearest hospital for x-rays or a cat scan to see if there was something beneath the skin that was affecting it, such as a splinter or some kind of infection.

After the first few times he had the nightmares, the boy had stopped talking about them. If someone asked him about it, he would just stare at them with haunted eyes. So, knowing that allowing the boy to sleep beside him helped prevent the dreams from coming, Ash made it a point to be home each night. There were times when he couldn't be there though, because he'd been doing a lot of flying back and forth between Saffron City, Goldenrod City, and Pallet Town as he worked on gaining custody of the boy while fighting to keep the authorities from placing the boy in an orphanage or boarding school while waiting for approval.

That the boy seemed to have developed a medical issue, and the term was used loosely to describe his violent nightmares and the unhealed scar, worked to their advantage; as neither a school nor an orphanage had the staff or funds to care for the boy in his current condition. Ash had also been called to the Slateport Gym to help train the replacement that the city officials had found to take his spot as the Gym Leader but so far he'd managed to stall them for the time being. Since it was still the middle of winter, it wasn't a big deal because few trainers actually traveled to the seaside city due to the rough weather that occurred that time of year.

Ash's attention was drawn out of his musings by the sound of giggles coming from under the table where he knew the boy was sitting. Looking up he caught site of a frantic Professor Oak chasing after the mischievous vulpix, who'd stolen one of the professor's scanning devices and was currently playing keep-away with the older man. Ash couldn't help but chuckle as well because he'd experienced that particular game frequently during the long journey out of the Lost Wilds with the young vulpix.

_It's always great to see the kid laughing, he spends far too much time brooding, especially lately,_ Ash thought to himself as he finally waded into the fray to save the professor's equipment from sharp teeth and errant flames.

Towards the end of winter, when Ash finally believed he'd tied up all the loose ends regarding his application for guardianship over the boy, he ran into a bit of a snag. And as far as snags go, it was a very large one. He needed to know the boy's name and birth date; preferably both first and last name but in a pinch the first name would suffice as he could give the boy his own last name when the adoption was finalized.

Feeling a headache coming on as he stared down at the final form (in triplicate) that was holding up everything he'd been working for over the last four months, Ash ran a hand over his face before pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to figure things out. Frustrated, and needing to do something, he flipped the paper upside down (so he didn't have to look at it right at the moment) and lifted his PokéNav out of his back pocket. Fiddling with the settings, he soon called up his list of contacts and began going through the names one at a time as he tried to think of who might be able to help him.

He had nearly given up when he came across Professor Rowan's name towards the bottom of his contact list. He remembered the rather brusque man from the Sinnoh Region very well, and his perky assistant named Lucas. The man had been very sensitive to the moods of Pokémon and the effects that the environment had on wild Pokémon; maybe he could give Ash some advice. Ash dialed the professor's number without hesitation and proceeded to spend the next thirty minutes catching up with the overly gruff man.

Towards the end of the conversation, Professor Rowan gave Ash the number for Lucian, a respected member of the Elite Four of the Sinnoh Region's Pokémon League and a gentleman that Ash vaguely remembered from when he'd participated in the Sinnoh League Championships. Lucian was a well known trainer of Psychic Pokémon as well as a renowned psychiatrist. Feeling like he had accomplished something, Ash thanked the professor and hung up to give the Elite Trainer a call. Lucian wasn't available unfortunately, so Ash settled for leaving him a message with only the briefest of explanations as to why Ash was trying to get a hold of him. Given the time of year, Ash figured the man was most likely out preparing for the upcoming Sinnoh Region Pokémon League Challenge that was due to open for registration sometime in the next month.

For a brief moment, Ash felt a wave of desire to take part in a Pokémon Tournament again. He really missed the thrill of the battles won, the chance to train new and exciting Pokémon, and meeting exceptional trainers from all over the world. He especially found himself missing the gym battles, of facing young trainers to find out if they had what it takes to make it all the way to the top. Handing out the gym badges to those that earned it after a magnificent battle… it had been a wonderful and glamorous life.

A life that had been his; right up until the moment a messy-haired, green-eyed boy with a world of troubles on his shoulders dropped into his lap. Did he miss the fast paced life of a Gym Leader? Yes, he did. Did he regret leaving that life behind to watch over the lonely boy? No, he didn't. That one small boy gave his life meaning beyond the Pokémon Battles he'd lived for over the past ten years. Sure, pitting his Pokémon against wild Pokémon or the Pokémon of another trainer was exciting but putting a smile on the face of one small boy was meaningful and rewarding in a way that battling couldn't compete with.

The ringing of his cell phone drew Ash out of his self introspection and he quickly answered the phone. Ten minutes later, he hung up and began making plans for a trip to Sinnoh; Lucian had a contact that might know a possible way of helping the child.

Two days later, after pulling some strings and applying for an emergency medical visa for the boy, the two of them were on their way to Veilstone City. From there they'd be traveling to Celestic Town where'd they be meeting up with Lucian who'd then introduce them to their guide, who in turn would take them through the passes of Mt. Coronet to where Lucian's contact lived alone. It wasn't going to be an easy journey but hopefully it would turn out to be a worthwhile journey.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> _Another small cameo there… and while I love the interaction between Ash, Brock, and Misty I have a hard time writing them for some reason so I'm afraid you won't really see much of Misty and Brock though they will be mentioned from time to time. And while the chapter seems a bit rushed it was meant to be that way to reflect some of the frustration Ash was feeling at the time though I'm not certain I conveyed it very well. _

_Anywho… I hope you enjoyed the chapter… and just to let you know I won't be answering any questions regarding Harry's nightmares, his scar, or horcruxes right now because the answers will appear in the story in a couple of chapters. ~ Jenn_

**AN 12-05-12:**_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._


	16. Journey's Start

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><em><span>Chapter 16: Journey's Start<span>_

_Monday Afternoon, May 26, 2003  
>Flight 345, from Vermilion City, Kanto Region<br>to Veilstone City, Sinnoh Region_

Ash had asked Misty and Brock if the pair of them were interested in joining them but his two friends were themselves preparing for the upcoming Tournaments in Kanto as Misty had taken over running the Cerulean City Gym when her sisters retired and Brock still occasionally helped his father run the Pewter City Gym when he wasn't breeding starter Pokémon for prospective trainers. Saying goodbye to his mother on the other had been an ordeal all its own as she was upset that he was leaving so soon again after the five months he'd been lost in the wilderness of the Wilds. Ash personally thought she just enjoyed having him around the house more often, because prior to all the madness surrounding the discovery and rescue of the boy, he'd usually only seen her once or twice a year and spoken to her two or three times a month.

For the last four and a half months, since the day he returned from the Lost Wilds in fact, he'd been home practically every night and spent every other day around the house helping his mother or playing with the boy, trying to draw the child further out of his shell. The only reason she wasn't protesting the trip more than she was, was because she knew there was a possibility that this would be the only opportunity they had to get the boy the help he needed. That didn't mean she was happy about it but it meant that she at least understood why it was necessary.

Leaning back in his seat, Ash stretched out his legs and glanced over at the boy glued to the window next to him. Apparently, other than three short rides in a helicopter, the boy had never been on a plane before and the kid was fascinated by the landscapes and oceans that they'd been flying over for the past three hours. He knew the kid hadn't been that fond of flying with Charizard but that could have been because he'd still been uncertain of the large dragon at the time coupled with the poor weather they'd been flying through. Idly, he wondered what the boy would think of sailing back on a cruise ship; he'd have to give that some serious thought after they spoke with Lucian's mysterious contact.

Sleeping in a brand new green backpack in the carry on rack under the boy's seat was the young wild vulpix that had seemingly bonded to the boy. Just not in the usual way trainers and their Pokémon bonded, for the two interacted more like best friends or siblings than they did trainer and Pokémon. In a way, it reminded Ash of the relationship he had developed over the years with Pikachu, only far more intense. Ash knew he could, to a point, communicate with all of his Pokémon and a good number of them could communicate with him in return, though it was easiest for him to read Pikachu and Charizard.

The boy and his vulpix though, they didn't even seem to need words to speak to each other. In fact, there were times when he thought they might be able to read each other's minds. The times when the connection between the two really became obvious were on the nights or afternoons that the boy suffered from another nightmare; when the vulpix was always the first one to know the boy had fallen into one of the nightmares and always stuck to the boy like glue when they were over. On the days when Ash hadn't been there to help the kid with the nightmares the vulpix would go wake up Delia to tend to the boy. The mornings after a nightmare, the mischievous Pokémon would always be in an extra playful mood too; as if he were acting up just to try and get the boy to smile and laugh.

The thought brought a smile to Ash's face as he once more turned to study the boy he'd grown to care for so much over the time he'd been with him. The child, at times, reminded him of himself when he had been younger; only not quite as outgoing. The kid was even a high powered trouble magnet like he was or so his mother was quite fond of pointing out. Eventually both man and boy drifted off to sleep for the rest of the flight.

Ash woke up several hours later as an automated voice requested that all passengers return to their seats and prepare for landing. Fourteen hours after boarding the craft, their plane landed on the water near Veilstone City before being ferried to a dock where they could disembark. This portion of the flight was nearly as exiting for the boy as the lift off had been, though he seemed to be more than a little afraid of the water that had suddenly covered a good portion of his window. That reaction had Ash wondering if the boy knew how to swim; he'd have to ask him later.

As they stepped from the dock and into the actual city, Ash smiled as he recalled the first time he'd been to Veilstone to challenge the Gym Leader of the town's Pokémon Gym. He'd had a wonderfully intense battle against Maylene's fighting type Pokémon. He briefly considered stopping by the Gym to say hello and have a possible rematch before they left, before realizing they probably wouldn't have time.

As they stepped out onto the crowded sidewalk, Ash felt the boy tense beside him. Casting a surreptitious glance around the immediate area, Ash tried to find the source of the boy's distress.

* * *

><p><em>Tuesday Morning, May 27, 2003<br>Veilstone City, Sinnoh Region_

As they stepped into the city, the boy couldn't believe how big it was. There were tons of buildings everywhere and more than one of them were so tall they blocked out the sunlight as their roofs vanished into the clouds. After staring at the buildings for a few minutes, the boy looked around and saw all the people. _There must be millions of them!_ He thought frantically as he edged closer to Ash for protection. _Where did they all come from?_

Used to being alone or around an extremely small number of people, the constant press of people around him (a good number of them invading his personal space) he felt constricted and trapped. He was actually beginning to hyperventilate by the time they'd gone no more than twenty paces. He desperately wished for them to stop touching him and suddenly they did. Unseen by the boy, during his rising panic attack, a blue shield had formed around his body the moment he wished for the people to stop touching him. The bubble had pushed all of the people, including Ash, a good five feet away from his side, leaving him standing alone on an island of cement in the sea of pedestrians.

Ash's lack comforting presence at his side was immediately noticed though and the boy's panic began to sky rocket as he desperately searched for the man. He was spinning around so fast looking for him that he failed to see the man trying to break through the magical bubble to reach him.

"Sport! I need you to calm down now, Sport," Ash's voice carried to him with an odd echo.

Relief flooded through the boy as he saw his friend and protector and the bubble immediately vanished as his emotions changed. Seconds later he was perched on top of Ash's shoulders so he wouldn't feel so intimidated by all of the people. Clinging to his knee was a disgruntled Pikachu who wasn't exactly happy to be displaced from Ash's shoulder, the electric Pokémon more than just a little jealous of the amount of attention that Ash paid to the boy.

When the boy felt the claws digging into his leg he glanced down at the yellow shock-mou… at Pikachu and studied the disgruntled Pokémon. He knew, from Ash's stories, that this particular Pokémon was one of Ash's favorites and that the two of them went everywhere together. He also knew that the yellow Pokémon loved to ride on Ash's shoulder whenever possible. Even as he thought about that, the boy felt guilty for taking the Pokémon's usual perch. He still didn't feel comfortable around the electric mouse Pokémon but he did tolerate it's presence since the presence of Pikachu nearly always meant that Ash was sure to be close.

Letting go of Ash's head with one hand, he reached down and touched one of Pikachu's long ears to get his attention. "If you promise not to shock me, you can ride on my shoulder," the boy whispered the moment Pikachu looked up at him.

"Pika?"

Blushing, the boy shrugged his shoulders in answer to the question in Pikachu's voice. He felt weird talking to the Pokémon, because he really didn't know it all that well. With the wild vulpix, he'd known the pup practically since it was born and so didn't have to guess what it wanted or needed.

For the remainder of their stay in town, which was really only long enough to gather some supplies for the next leg of their journey, Pikachu happily sat on the boy's shoulder no longer feeling quite so put out at being displaced. Ash, having heard the entire exchange, was feeling extremely proud of the boy as he whistled a happy tune.

Once outside of town, Ash felt the boy finally relax. He'd forgotten how uncomfortable the boy felt around large numbers of people and wished he'd remembered sooner. The way the boy had pushed everyone away during those first few minutes in the crowd had worried the Pokémon Trainer though, because it reminded him of the night his old room was destroyed when the boy had done something similar. In some ways, the inexplicable outbursts reminded Ash of Mewtwo's telekinetic ability.

"You're getting heavy, Sport," Ash announced once they were a short distance out of town. "Why don't you come down and stretch your legs for a while. I think it's safe to let the vulpix out for a run too, I'm sure he's tired of staying hidden in your pack."

"Okay," the boy agreed.

Soon the boy, the vulpix, and Pikachu were all trotting along the road slightly in front of Ash; who was on the look out for any wild Pokémon that might attack the group. In the distance, he could see a handful of other trainers searching the tall grass for wild Pokémon and felt compelled to grin as he recalled doing the same thing on his various journeys when he was younger.

They camped that night on a small plateau that stood a good eight meters above the grasses. While Ash set up the small two-man tent he'd purchased in Veilstone, the boy and his vulpix scrounged around the scattered trees in the area for firewood for their campfire. When they trooped back into camp, aside from the small pile of wood they found, the boy had also managed to gather a decent assortment of wild berries that flourished in the area.

As they ate a light supper of sandwiches and fresh berries, the sounds of a Pokémon trainer battling a wild Pokémon drifted up from below their camp. Peering down in the light of the setting sun, they could just make out a man battling a frantic rapidash using a water type Pokémon. Even as they watched, the rapidash was overcome by the other Pokémon's water gun attack and the man used the opportunity to capture the weakened fire Pokémon with a pokéball.

Battle over; the man celebrated his capture with a brief victory dance before running off in the direction of route two-ten. Ash was just about to compliment the trainer on his excellent tactics when the boy gave out a sob from beside him. Glancing down, he saw a horrified expression on the boy's face as the kid rose to his feet and began a stumbling run down towards the place where the battle took place.

Ash called after him to come back but for the first time in a long while the boy ignored him. Knowing he couldn't leave the boy on his own with nightfall rapidly approaching, he quickly gave chase, mentally going over the abilities of the Pokémon he had with him that could be used if another of the region's wild Pokémon made an appearance. When he finally caught up to the boy he found him sobbing on the ground near where the rapidash had made its final stand.

"How could he be so mean?" the boy wailed as he turned angry green eyes towards Ash. "Why didn't he leave her alone?"

The anger and the questions caught Ash off guard, growing up surrounded by Pokémon and Pokémon trainers as he had, he couldn't understand what had the boy so distraught. Trainers captured wild Pokémon every day, and most of the Pokémon really didn't seem to mind. "That's what trainers do, Sport, they capture wild Pokémon to raise for the tournaments."

"Then trainers are stupid!" the boy yelled. "He didn't even care that he took someone's mummy away! He was just like the evil man that took my mummy away. I hate trainers."

Shocked, Ash moved closer and finally saw what had the boy so angry and upset. Lying in the grass was a tiny newborn ponyta, its fur still damp from its birth. The rapidash hadn't been battling for the sake of the challenge, as he'd thought it was; she had been fighting to protect the life of her child. "I don't think he knew she had a little one with her, most trainers only battle solitary Pokémon, unless they are attacked by a large number of them."

The boy didn't respond, he just reached out and gently rubbed the frightened ponyta's nose before pulling a small berry, left over from their interrupted supper, out of his pocket. Squishing the berry between his hands, the boy mashed it up before holding the mushy mess out to the ponyta. The tiny Pokémon greedily licked the berry from the boy's hands and whickered softly. The newborn babe then tried to stand on wobbly legs, only for it to end up sprawled on its belly in the grass.

It only took a few more attempts before the determined creature managed to stand and as soon as it did, the little filly, for the ponyta was a little girl, immediately began poking her nose in the boy's belly looking for more berries. And, as if the fox-like Pokémon knew it was needed, vulpix appeared with the sought after berry in his mouth. Slowly, with repeated offerings of berries, the boy led the orphaned ponyta back up to the camp.

By the time they reached the top of the small hill, the small fire horse was following of its own violation and Ash was certain that the boy had bonded with his second Pokémon. He felt concern for the boy's state of mind though. Several times, when he glanced at the boy, he could see the tears on the child's face as he offered comfort to the young Pokémon. The boy's reaction and heated comments about trainers bothered the young man, because until then he'd rarely ever questioned the morality of capturing wild Pokémon.

Had he, as a young trainer traveling through the countryside, left behind little orphaned Pokémon out of ignorance? The slightest possibility that he might have, especially when he'd first started traveling, bothered him more than he cared to admit. But what bothered him the most was the thought that he'd never really considered the families of the wild Pokémon he'd battled and captured over the years.

It wasn't until later that night, after the boy had gone to sleep beside him, that Ash recalled what the boy had said about his mother. _"He didn't even care that he took someone's mummy away! He was just like the evil man that took my mummy away."_ That statement bothered Ash, because he distinctly remembered the boy telling him that his parents had died in a car crash. And yet, in a moment of distress, he blurted out that an evil man had taken his mother instead. Did the boy really know what happened to his parents? Or was he just repeating things his aunt and uncle had told him?

Over the next week, as they worked their way along route two-fifteen, the boy spent a great deal of energy taking care of the rapidly growing fire horse, constantly searching out various berries for her to eat since she was currently too young to eat the various grasses growing in the area. The ponyta followed him around faithfully; you'd almost think she'd adopted the boy as his mother from the way she stuck close to him. In a way that was entirely possible, because the little filly's mother was captured mere minutes after giving birth to her. Ash would have thought it adorable if not for the growing animosity he could see in the boy.

Each time they passed near another trainer, the boy would glare at him or her and go out of his way to avoid them if the person approached their camp. Normally, Ash would have used the opportunity to battle the new trainer, to see how good they were, but the boy's behavior told him it would be a bad idea. It was about that time that they reached the Café Cabin that marked the point where route two-fifteen opened onto route two-ten.

Ash had planned on treating the boy to a hot, home cooked meal and an ice cold glass of Moomoo Milk. They were just about to enter the quaint little café when the boy saw something that made him tense up and begin to back away. Ash was about to ask him what was wrong, when he spotted the trainer from earlier in the week, the one that had captured the rapidash. Placing his hand on the boy's shoulder, to prevent him from running off, Ash leaned down and whispered in the boy's ear.

"I want you to do something for me, Sport," Ash stated softly in a firm tone. "I want you to take Pikachu, the vulpix, and the ponyta over to one of the outdoor tables and sit down. I want you to stay there, quietly, while I go speak with that trainer. I might have him come over here, depending on how things go, so I want you to be on your best behavior. Can you do that for me?"

The boy frowned up at Ash, looking as if he's rather not listen; but in the end he reluctantly nodded, and with the three Pokémon in tow, he picked the one table that stood the farthest away from where the man was laughing with two other trainers. Ash watched after the boy for several minutes before heading over to the older man.

"Excuse me, sir," Ash interrupted politely when the opportunity arose. "I was wondering if I could speak to you for a moment."

"What I can do for you, young'un?"

"I witnessed your capture of the wild rapidash a few days earlier and I wanted to ask you a few questions."

"Ah, that was one of the most rewarding battles I've fought against a wild Pokémon. She put up a grand old fight she did. Still does too, first Pokémon I've caught that has ever refused to listen to a single command. She fights the pokéball all the time too. I've got no idea what's a matter with her. What did you want to ask me about her?"

"Well, my soon-to-be adopted son watched your battle with me, and he was most upset when he saw you capture the wild rapidash. You see, he saw something I think you and I both missed. The rapidash you captured left behind a newborn ponyta."

The trainer actually paled as he stared at Ash in shock. "She'd just given birth? I… I didn't know! What happened to the wee thing? Is it alright? Oh damn, no wonder my rapidash doesn't want to listen!"

"She's doing just fine; my son adopted her, you see. But he's very angry at all trainers because he thought you did it on purpose. I explained to him that you probably didn't know about the ponyta but he's had a hard life. He lost his mother and father when he was very young and because of that he took the ponyta's loss very personally," Ash carefully explained, making certain not to offend or accuse the trainer because he didn't want to start a fight. "It sounds like your new rapidash might just be concerned about her little one. If you have her with you, maybe it might help if she sees the ponyta is in good hands?"

"I swear I had no idea, there's been some new legislation protecting the wild Pokémon with young that was passed recently what with all the problems Team Galactic created a few years back. It carries an automatic three year jail time, a five thousand dollar fine, and the confiscation of all wild Pokémon that you've captured; if you're found guilty of knowingly separating a mother from her young. Will your boy even let me apologize? He's got every right to be angry. If I'd seen it happen I'd be angry too."

"I'm sure he'll listen, especially if he sees you're taking good care of the mother now that she's with you. Just give me a minute to explain to him, please."

As Ash approached the table where the boy was sitting, the trainer quickly released the rapidash from her pokéball and Ash could hear him apologizing to her. It must have calmed the angry Pokémon because it sounded like she stopped rearing and fighting the bond of the pokéball. Ash dared not turn around to confirm it though; he was far too intent on the body language that the boy was displaying. He saw the boy ball his fists and frown the moment the rapidash was released from the pokéball, only to tilt his head to the side in confusion when he saw the captured Pokémon calm down.

"Hey, Sport, the trainer wants to come over and apologize to you. He said he didn't know about the ponyta and he was even upset that he didn't notice before he captured the rapidash. He also wants the mother to see her baby, to let her know the little one is alright. Do you think you can at least hear him out?"

The boy looked uncertain. Ash could see he really wanted to hate the man for kidnapping the mother rapidash but eventually he grudgingly consented to listen to what the trainer had to say. After giving Ash the jerky nod in response he disappeared under the table without a word. Ash thought he was trying to hide but the kid reappeared a heartbeat later with the ponyta on his heels; the young ponyta having been stashed out of site by the boy in order to protect her. Smiling with pride, Ash gave the boy an affectionate pat on the shoulder as he signaled to the trainer waiting anxiously behind him.

Before the man could take two steps, the rapidash spied the young ponyta and gave a loud whinny that was echoed a heartbeat later by the ponyta and the two Pokémon rushed towards each other. Looking down at the boy, Ash could see him smiling wistfully through a scattering of tears that trickled down his face. The happy reunion of mother and daughter was a sight to see as the young ponyta capered around and between the legs of her much larger mother. The mother, on the other hand, simply nuzzled her young one over and over again as if checking to make sure she wasn't dreaming. While this was going on, the trainer approached the boy and got down on his knees.

"I'd like to thank you, kid," the man calmly stated, "for taking care of the little one when I made a grave mistake. I honestly didn't know she had a little one with her or I never would have battled her. I'm not going to ask for your forgiveness, because what I did was unforgivable. I'm angry at myself for not paying more attention."

The boy stared at the trainer with his intense green eyes for several minutes, before he gave the man a solemn nod. Ash then extended an invitation to the trainer to join them for their meal, which the man gladly accepted. While the two men went off to order the food, the boy sat on the chair at the table and watched the two fire horses.

When the men came back outside, they found the boy standing on the chair petting the mother rapidash on the neck as the ponyta leaned into the boy's leg. The rapidash was actually touching the boy on the head with her horn, as she rubbed her nose against the boy's chest and stared into the boy's eyes.

"I've never seen such a touching sight," the trainer breathed in awe.

"He's a very special boy," Ash quietly admitted; as he, too, was touched by the scene. Unobtrusively, he pulled out his PokéDex and used the camera function to take a short video of the trio that he then sent to Professor Oak, whom he knew would pass it on to his mother.

* * *

><p><strong>AN 12-05-12:<strong>_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._


	17. When Wild Pokémon Attack

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><em><span>Chapter 17: When Wild Pokémon Attack<span>_

_Friday Afternoon, June 06, 2003  
>Café Cabin, between Route 215 &amp; 210<br>Sinnoh Region_

Any tension the boy felt around the trainer vanished completely by the time the group finished eating. He still didn't say much unless he was asked a direct question but he didn't ignore him or glare at the man either. As they cleaned up their messes, the rapidash gave both the boy and the ponyta a parting nuzzle before she trotted over to the trainer and whickered at him, her meaning clear – she accepted him as her trainer, now that she knew her child was safe. The man was overjoyed at being forgiven by the one he'd wronged.

And while the ponyta seemed to grow sad when the rapidash was returned to her pokéball, she showed no desire to leave the boy's side in order to stay with her mother. Ash silently wondered if the young filly's behavior around the mature rapidash had more to do with the horse-like Pokémon's herd mentality than any connection the ponyta would have had with its biological mother. After all, the filly hadn't really had time to bond with her mother before her mother was captured while the boy had taken on the role that her mother would have originally filled; meaning the ponyta saw the boy as her only parent. It would be a question that Ash posed to Professor Oak the next time they spoke.

Before they parted ways that afternoon, Ash and the trainer (who finally introduced himself as Calvin) traded phone numbers and e-mail addresses, along with promises to keep in touch with each other. Ash additionally promised to look him up if they passed this way again before heading home to Kanto. To the boy, Calvin gave a polished amber pendant with a mosquito trapped inside of it (for luck), two hundred dollars (a thank you gift for the boy forgiving him), and a promise to always be more careful when he capturing wild Pokémon in the future.

Resuming their journey, the two headed north as they traveled on Route Two-Ten. Ash felt lighter than he had in days, as he watched the boy's sullen demeanor slowly fade away. Clearing the air between Calvin and the child had done much to repair the boy's attitude in regards to Pokémon trainers in general too; the boy now no longer glaring at passing trainers or snubbing those that shared their company for a short time.

Ash even managed to have a friendly battle or two for the first time in nearly a year and his Pokémon were pleased to get a workout. In fact, watching the Pokémon dive into the battles with obvious enthusiasm allowed the boy to be a bit more accepting of the Pokémon and their trainer's relationship, especially when he saw just how much all of Ash's Pokémon loved him and how well the other trainers treated their Pokémon even when they lost the battles. The kid still didn't like the idea of capturing wild Pokémon but in time he might learn to accept that as well.

They were nearing the section of route two-ten where the route cut abruptly to the west, meaning they were about half way to their destination, when the weather took a turn for the worse. A thick blanket of fog clung to the land, obscuring the path and surrounding trees from view. Even knowing the likelihood of encountering fog beforehand hadn't prepared Ash for their path to be obscured so completely. They set up camp early that day, backtracking several meters to where the air and ground weren't so damp. Ash then spent the remaining daylight pouring over the map of the area on his PokéNav, paying special attention to the various mountain trials that would take them above the fog.

This would be one of the toughest legs of their journey, with the possible exception of the rugged trails of Mt. Coronet. The lack of visibility meant it was far easier to get lost or stumble upon unseen Pokémon, two things Ash preferred to avoid if at all possible. Ash almost wished he'd brought along his staraptor, one of the bird Pokémon that were native to Sinnoh, as the fierce birds were known for their powerful wing attacks and could have used him to clear enough of the fog to see the path clearly. Ash had decided against bringing the feisty bird though, because of the boy's lingering fear of all bird Pokémon, a feeling he could easily understand due to the attack the boy had survived almost a year prior.

The next morning they broke camp an hour later that usual in the hopes that the rising sun would burn off a bit of the fog; no such luck, for rain clouds had moved in during the night and the added moisture from the rain only added to the visibility difficulties. Their luck only got worse when they were attacked by a colony of annoyed kricketunes the moment they stepped into the tall grass. Pikachu managed to deal with most of them in short order but a single pair of the large bug Pokémon had managed to separate the young ponyta from the boy's side, scratching the boy's arm in the process.

The poor filly was bleating with fear as she was herded further away from the group and Ash was just about to release Charizard to deal with the annoying bugs when he heard the boy growl. Startled, for he'd never heard the boy sound so angry and menacing before, Ash turned to find out what was wrong only to see a rust colored blur speeding away from the boy's bag.

The vulpix was attacking the wild Pokémon! The tiny little vulpix was blasting the two kricketunes, and by extension the ponyta, with his flamethrower attack. And winning. He was stunned, if only because he hadn't thought the vulpix would have been able to handle two obviously older and more experienced Pokémon that were in their second evolutionary stages and nearly four times larger than him. The ponyta was completely unharmed by the intense flames, due to her Flash Fire abilities that allowed the fire horse to absorb flames as energy, and in fact seemed to revel in the flames. While all that was going on, the boy had picked up a stick he found lying on the ground and began chasing off another of the giant bugs that looked as if it was trying to sneak up behind the vulpix.

By the time Ash came back to his senses, the battle was over and the tired but smug vulpix howled out his superiority before returning to the boy's side with the ponyta in tow. The boy immediately dropped the stick and threw his arms around the weary Pokémon, making soft sounds of reassurance in the back of his throat as he ran his hands over vulpix's body searching for injuries. The ponyta received the same treatment a heartbeat later. When the boy was satisfied that both his friends were fine, he gave each of them a berry from his pack. Ash joined them with Pikachu a few seconds later, the electric Pokémon begging a berry of his own from the boy, who willing supplied the desired treat.

Thankfully, that seemed to be the extent of their bad luck for the day, other than the rain that continued to steadily beat down on them. Though, to be on the safe side, Ash released Charizard from his pokéball and the large dragon scouted the path ahead as he hovered just above their heads. In this way, they managed to avoid being surprised by another large group of wild Pokémon as they moved through the tall grasses.

It took them four days of inching their way through the fog and grass to reach the base of the mountain path. Everything they owned was completely soaked and even the Pokémon were miserable. The two young fire Pokémon were feeling the effects of the journey the most as the cold dampness sucked the warmth from their bodies. Once on the path, everyone's spirits picked up as they quickly rose above the level of the fog and found the sunlight.

They made an early camp that afternoon and set about drying out themselves and their belongings. The vulpix and ponyta actually climbed right into the fire at one point, the two young Pokémon needing the intense heat to revitalize their internal flames. Vulpix actually ended up sleeping in the middle of the fire for several hours, as the brave Pokémon had suffered far more than the others because he'd grown up in a much drier environment.

Another week of climbing over scattered boulders and across rickety old ropes bridges made Ash wish they had flown to Celestic City instead of walking there on foot. He'd wanted to share a bit of adventure with the boy though, and couldn't really regret the journey because of how much he and the boy had learned about each other. The trip had been especially educational for the boy, as he was able to observe trainers interacting with their Pokémon and experienced first-hand the necessity of keeping Pokémon as companions. And while he could have done without the drama surrounding the orphaned ponyta he couldn't regret the lessons Harry had learned from the experience; trainers sometimes made mistakes, not all strange adults were mean, and a high number of tamed Pokémon enjoyed battling other Pokémon just as much as their trainers did.

After spending three weeks covering the distance between Veilstone and Celestic, Ash and the boy were both thrilled at the opportunity to spend the night at the small family-run inn they checked into that night. Both man and boy enjoying a good long soak in the tub before curling up on the soft bed. The next morning they slept in until just before noon, both of them desperately needing the extra sleep after the demanding journey and in preparation for their climb into the higher ridges of Mt. Coronet. For lunch, they dined on thick beef stew with fresh buttered rolls, and shared a large slab of cheesecake smothered with raspberry sauce, chocolate syrup, and topped with whip cream; Harry only eating a small portion of the dessert since too much sugar still made him sick.

Directly after lunch, the two of them repacked their backpacks, checked out of the inn, and made their way towards route two-eleven, where they were to meet Lucian and the guide that would lead them up the trails crisscrossing Mt. Coronet. Shortly after they passed the edge of town, Ash saw Lucian speaking with an older woman with long gray hair wearing rock climbing gear. Ash led the way over to the pair and quickly reintroduced himself and the boy to Lucian, who in turn introduced him to the old lady, Madeline, their guide.

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><p><em>Wednesday Afternoon, June 19, 2003<br>Route 211, Just outside Celestic Town  
>Sinnoh Region<em>

While the adults were speaking, the boy glanced around the high altitude meadow that was route two-eleven, and noticed several different kinds of berry bushes growing amongst the tall grasses. After checking to see if Ash was finished yet, he wandered around to each of the bushes and collected several of each different kind. He tried putting them all in his pack, but there were too many, and what he did add made the pack too heavy for him to carry. Remembering how he made the special baskets for the mother ninetales to carry berries with, he quickly set about collecting some of the hardier tall grass that grew around the base of the rocky mountainside, leaving the vulpix and ponyta to protect the berries he had gathered.

Once he had enough, he sat down beside the pile of berries and began weaving the grass into a mat that he folded in half to make the first basket. He'd barely finished tying off the sides of that one when he felt a shadow fall over him. Looking up he saw the old woman Ash had been talking to standing over him watching what he was doing.

"What are you trying to make, child?"

"A basket pack, for the berries," he replied as he pointed to the berries he'd gathered. "They won't fit in mine."

"Why do you need those old berries?"

"In case someone gets hurt or tired," the boy explained carefully, as if he thought the old lady was being dense. "Plus, the fire pony likes to eat the giant red ones that look like raspberries. They're her favorite and I don't know if I'll find more before we get wherever we're going."

"How did you know which ones are good to eat?"

The boy looked up with his green eyes and studied the woman hovering over him. He tilted his head to the side and frowned as he wondered why she was asking so many questions and what she was trying to get him to say. He wasn't sure he liked her; she seemed far too nosy. Knowing he had to say something though, he finally gave a simple answer that didn't tell her anything. "I was taught."

"You know, I bet you could buy some potions and antidotes or even some herbs at the store in town instead of dealing with those old berries. They sell them in town for tourists who climb the mountain or visit the various caves."

"The Pokémon prefer the berries."

At this point the boy decided the conversation was over and he turned back to the grass in his hands and continued extending one side of the basket. Every so often, he'd stand up and hold the thing over the ponyta's back and measure to see if it was long enough. Once he thought it was, he began working on the second basket. While he worked, he kept half an eye on the old woman who still hovered close enough to watch him work. It made him a little nervous and he'd unconsciously flinch each time her shadow fell over him and blocked out the sun.

He was nearly finished with the second basket when he ran out of the grass he was using to make the pack. Not trusting the lady to not take either the berries or the basket away from him, since he got the feeling that she disapproved of what he was doing, he glanced around him to see if there was any close by he could use. There wasn't. Frustrated and feeling uncomfortable with being watched so closely, he growled softly as he tried to make up his mind on what to do.

His growl caught the attention of both the lady and vulpix. The lady looked confused but the vulpix seemed to understand that something was wrong. The rust colored Pokémon trotted up to him and yipped questioningly, so the boy whispered his need for more grass while the young fire Pokémon sniffed the nearly finished pack. The vulpix yipped again, this time in excitement before tearing off through the grass. When he returned, the vulpix had a large mouthful of the same type of grass that he deposited beside the boy before grinning happily and licking the boy's face.

"Aren't you clever!?" the boy cried proudly as he abandoned his weaving and proceeded to wrestle with his first friend. After a few minutes, the boy hugged the vulpix tightly and whispered a soft, "What would I do without you?", before settling back down to finish the pack.

The woman, meanwhile, looked even more perplexed as she glanced between the vulpix (who was once again guarding the berries) and the boy. The child could tell she wanted to ask him a question but he simply turned his back to her so he could finish the pack in peace. While he was securing the last edge, he heard footsteps approaching and glanced around to see Ash and the other man joining the woman. He quickly tied the last knot and chewed off the extra strands with his teeth before taking the pack to Ash to show him what he made.

"Look, Ash, it's even sturdier than the one I made before! I bet it will hold twice as much fruit. Do you think the ponyta will mind carrying it? I know it's too big for the vulpix."

"Hey, Sport, that looks great!" Ash praised as he examined the newly made pack baskets. "I didn't know that other one was made by you. This one looks much sturdier but the first one was well done too. Not sure if the ponyta will be willing to carrying or not; she's still fairly young and hasn't been trained but I don't think it will hurt to try so long as you don't make the pack too heavy. She is fairly strong for her age."

"Okay."

"If she is willing to carry the pack, you might want to think about taking some grass for the ponyta to eat instead of just berries; since there will be fewer grasses growing the higher we climb. How many days do you anticipate it taking to reach the cave, Madeline?"

"A week or two at most but that mostly depends on how far we travel each day."

"I'd better go buy some extra supplies then," Ash mused as he slipped off his pack and rummaged through it for several minutes. "Will you be alright here for a little while, Champ, while I go buy a few more supplies for the trip? Or did you want to come with me?"

"You won't be gone too long, will you?"

"I shouldn't be. Would you like me to leave Pikachu here?"

The boy considered the electric Pokémon sitting on Ash's shoulder for a minute before shaking his head no; he figured he be fine with the vulpix watching over him. Ash gave his hair a ruffle and then jogged back into town with the other man while the old lady sat down on a nearby boulder. The boy frowned at the woman for a brief moment, before he decided he would just continue to ignore her.

Picking up the pack he'd made, he began lining the bottom of both baskets with several handfuls of the shorter grasses he'd seen the ponyta nibbling on in the last few minutes. Next, he added a few berries to both sides and then carried the pack over to the ponyta. The filly seemed nervous about the pack at first, shying away from the weight as the boy tried to place it on her back but after much encouragement from the boy she eventually calmed down and allowed him to set it over her back.

While she was getting used to the weight, he went back to gathering more grass and layered it around and over the berries in the pack, cushioning the berries to prevent them from becoming bruised. He added just a couple more of the smaller berries until each side of the pack was a little less than half full of berries and tucked more grass inside. He could have added more berries but he hadn't forgotten what Ash had told him about making the fire pony carry too much weight the first time and hurting her.

He then dumped out his own pack so he could clean it out a bit to make room for some of the berries. He wasn't carrying much but a few extra changes of clothes, some prepackaged Pokémon food (this had been brought along in case they couldn't find enough fresh berries during their journey), one blanket, and the bag that held his treasures (which he hadn't let out of his sight since he got it back from Professor Oak when they returned to Pallet Town). Once he put everything back inside, he added a layer of the weaving grass to prevent the berries from staining his clothes and then placed most of the smaller berries into the pack as well. When he finished, there were only a handful of the large razz berries that he couldn't fit in his bag because they were too big.

He was just wondering what to do with the extra berries when Ash returned alone carrying a long coil of rope, a bright yellow blanket, and three bags of food. The boy then watched as Ash set about reorganizing his larger pack to add the new supplies before the older man double checked the boy's pack and the baskets draped over ponyta's back. Ash praised the boy for remembering to not make the pack too heavy for the young Pokémon as he put the last of the gathered berries into his pack when he saw them sitting off to one side. Seeing everything was ready, Ash turned to let Madeline know they were ready whenever she was.

The old woman shrugged her shoulders and shook her head over the strange behavior of the pair as she climbed to her feet and headed across the meadow. The boy followed reluctantly behind her with ponyta and vulpix on either side of him while Ash walked along behind him. The woman led them to a narrow path that wound up through the jagged cliffs towering above them. She paused briefly to pick up her own pack, which she'd placed by the trail earlier that morning, before stepping out onto the trail and leading the way into the mountain.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> _Just another reminder folks… this story is complete… that means the chapter lengths are set and the plot has been ironed out and the holes, if found, have been plugged or prepped for surgery in the sequel. I got another anonymous review asking for things that aren't going to happen so I couldn't reply. (One of the things I dislike about the review system here). And while I do appreciate all of the reviews please don't demand (or request) that I add or change things because I'm not going to rewrite the entire story just to add or make changes. I'm having enough trouble with writing the sequel as it is… and do have a life outside of writing (even if my kids don't believe that I do…)_

_The one reviewer also asked for more scenes featuring the view points of other various HP characters… Why? It's not like anyone is aware of the fact that Harry is missing other than Dumbledore so why bother with the other points of view? There is nothing for them to worry about or add to the story since they are not aware of anything being wrong. Maybe I should go back and add the warning that this fic is Harry&Ash!Centric? Or state that I dislike too many POV's though it is sometimes necessary for the story to move on? I mean one or two is fine, so long as they all aren't beating the same scene to death; but trying to account for EVERYONE's viewpoint is annoying and detracts from the actual story – especially if they really have nothing to add to the plot. _

_ANYhow… rant over for now… Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. ~ Jenn_

**AN 12-05-12:**_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._


	18. Seeking Healing

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><em><span>Chapter 18: Seeking Healing<span>_

_Monday Evening, June 23, 2003  
>Mt. Coronet, Route 211<br>Sinnoh Region_

The journey was difficult. The wild ponyta traveling with them did not deal well with the rocky trail, her hooves designed for running on the open grasslands, not climbing the rocky mountain passes. She gamely trudged on though, mostly because the boy offered her praise and encouragement every step of the way. Her pack was lightened rapidly as she ate the berries and grass she carried, which did make it easier for her to jump over some of the larger rocks that littered their path.

The wild vulpix, on the other hand, was right at home amongst the craggy peaks. He would bound off ahead of the others to explore the cliffs and side caves, and then come trotting back down to bring the boy some prize he had discovered. The boy saved each and every one of these odd and strange treasures. Sometimes, the vulpix would even bring berries back to the group, odd stunted berries that were twisted, their bluish purple skin covered in a myriad of bumps and about the size and shape of the boy's finger. The berries were very dry, and had a bitter sour taste to them. They looked something like a kelpsy berry, aside from the color and the texture.

Near the end of the week, the boy experienced his first nightmare in well over two and a half months. They'd reached a small valley in the saddle between two of the peaks around midmorning of their fifth day of travel. Taking advantage of the relatively wide open space, the child had spent the remaining daylight galloping through the meadow with his two young fire Pokémon friends. During supper, the three youngsters had fallen asleep over their food, and Ash had carried each of them to the tent to allow them to rest while he and Madeline spoke of what they could expect to encounter over the last few days of travel.

Everything had been fine for the first hour, until the boy began whimpering in his sleep. Ash, in a moment of forgetfulness, had zipped the tent shut so that vulpix was unable to get him in time to wake the boy before the nightmare reached its critical point. Ten minutes after the boy first became agitated, unearthly screams filled the valley meadow. The two fire Pokémon, trapped inside with the now suffering child both reacted instantly, though their reactions were total opposites. The vulpix was desperately trying to get to Ash because the creature knew the man would help. The ponyta just wanted to get away, she was frightened by the boy's screaming and thrashing and the scent of blood drove her into a panic. Both Pokémon solved their dilemma in the exact same manner; they burnt through the walls of the tent that was trapping them inside.

Ash, who had also reacted to the screams immediately, was close enough that he ended up slightly charred by the vulpix's flamethrower. He danced back out of the way of the worst of the flames, only to have his foot trampled over by the terrified ponyta as she burst out of the now ruined tent. By this time, the tent was a blazing inferno, the fabric unable to withstand the heat of the combined fires of two Pokémon. Fearing for the boy, who was still trapped inside of his nightmare inside the burning tent, Ash darted through the flames to rescue him. Seconds later, he walked out of the flames and smoke, cradling the limp form of the boy close to his chest.

Sparing only a second's thought to release Blastoise, to put out the remains of the tent, Ash hurried to where he'd left his backpack while eating and dug out the newly purchased yellow blanket. Barely taking the time to spread the blanket out on the ground, Ash gently lowered the boy onto the ground and began checking him for burns. As he worked, the vulpix brought the boy a Rawst berry, which looked like a blue strawberry. The boy was unresponsive though, having gone into shock from pain and loss of blood coupled with the terror experienced through his nightmare that he'd only just woken from.

"Come on, Sport," Ash ordered desperately, "stay with me, Champ. It's all over now, you're safe and I'm here. But I need you to come back to me, buddy."

Madeline helped put out the fire using her rock Pokémon to cover the smoldering remains with sand and dirt. She appeared visibly shaken though, by the night's events, as she kept staring unseeingly out into the night or staring nervously at the boy, whose scar still oozed blood down his face.

"Why aren't you trying to stop the bleeding?" Madeline finally asked after several minutes had gone by.

"The bleeding will stop when it's ready to. I have to keep him awake enough to eat the berry before he falls unconscious. It's the only way to heal any burns he has and clear the smoke out of his lungs. If I mess with his scar at all, it'll just make things worse," Ash snapped shortly as he deftly sliced the berry the vulpix had brought into thin slices that he repeatedly coaxed the barely conscious child to chew and swallow.

Once the berry began working, the boy slowly became aware of his surroundings. Unfortunately, the moment his shock wore off his emotions went haywire as he began crying hysterically about his mother, the mother ninetales, and the mother rapidash. It took Ash an hour, three phone calls, and an excessive amount of patience to calm the boy down enough for his babbling to be somewhat coherent. Even then what he spoke of made no sense; for he spoke of burning mountains, falling rocks, endless darkness, poisonous green lights, and evil men.

The new dimensions of the nightmare bothered Ash deeply. Something was multiplying the boy's suffering through his dreams. It was like the dreams were taking the boy's deepest fears and darkest memories and twisting them into the terrifying visions that practically drove the boy out of his mind. Ash also wished he'd not put off getting the boy a complete medical checkup before traveling cross country with him. It had been so long since the last time he experienced a nightmare that he had thought it safe to put off until after they followed up with Lucian's contact.

In the light of the newly risen sun, the extensive damage to the tent was revealed. There would be no salvaging the collapsible canvas shelter, as not even the floor had escaped the flames. Thankfully, all three of their packs had been outside of the tent, as Ash had planned to put his and the boy's inside it when he joined the boy in bed the previous night. It also took Pikachu two hours to track down the missing ponyta and convince it to come back. The poor filly was covered with ashes and dirt from her mad flight in the dark but otherwise was unharmed.

She absolutely refused to go near the boy at first though, the smell of blood covering his clothes, face, and hair agitating the young Pokémon. This affected the boy greatly, as he retreated further inside his shell each time the pony shied away from him. Ash was able to resolve the issue though by taking the boy to the stream that ran through the meadow to wash away the blood before having him change into fresh clothes. Once he no longer reeked of blood the ponyta finally stopped dancing away from him even if she remained a little skittish.

The boy never fully recovered from the nightmare though; his bright green eyes were dull and shadowed, dark smudges beneath the eyes drew attention to the paleness of his skin, and the thunderbolt scar stood out starkly on his forehead, the skin surrounding it bruised and swollen. He also moved robotically, his mind halfway disconnected from the world around him. Worried for the boy's health, Ash ended up carrying him the rest of the way to their destination.

Madeline was far more reserved for the last two days of the journey, her demeanor somewhat cold towards Ash while she avoided the boy entirely. Not that the younger man noticed the change; he was far more focused on trying to help the boy. The night before they expected to reach their destination, the woman disappeared right after they had set up camp for the night. Ash was somewhat annoyed with her but didn't try to chase after her because at this point he really didn't need her to lead the way; the two of them having discussed their route frequently during the days before the boy's nightmare.

That night the boy's sleep was troubled once more. He didn't have another nightmare, as far as Ash could tell, but he kept whimpering in his sleep and thrashing around. When the sun rose in the morning the boy's breathing was shallow and labored, and the bruising under the scar was spreading – evidence that the scar had continued bleeding internally through the night. And the boy would not wake. Knowing he was close to the one person who could help him, or so he prayed, he made the decision to leave their supplies where they were rather than taking the time to pack them. To keep them from being disturbed though, he left Charizard to watch over their belongings.

Carrying the limp child in his arms, Ash walked briskly along the last eight and a quarter miles of the trail, jumping or climbing over any obstacles that appeared in his way. The vulpix was always just a step ahead of him, with its nose to the ground as it tracked whatever scent it picked up in the bare rocks. The ponyta had been left in the capable claws of Charizard because it had grown nervous during the night as the boy tossed and turned in his sleep.

At the summit of the trail, the path that they'd been following all morning fell sharply away, revealing the scarred caldera of what had once been a volcano. Ash stared out over the deep crater that was the result of the volcano collapsing in on itself during some long ago eruption for a full three minutes, stunned at the sheer magnitude of the destruction the forces of nature had wrought in the distant past. Pulling himself back to reality, Ash turned to the left and followed the rim of the caldera for twenty meters before stopping beside the large entrance of the cave he'd been told to look for.

"Hello? Is anybody here?" Ash called as he shifted the boy in his arms. "Can you hear me? My name is Ash Ketchum and I was told by Lucian that you might be able to help us. Please, is anyone here?"

After several agonizing seconds, Ash could see someone moving through the dark cave. As the person drew closer he could make out a yellow form, until suddenly the large form of an ancient Hypno materialized. Unconsciously, Ash took a step back, more than a little shocked and somewhat confused to find a Pokémon and not a person.

"_I will not harm you, Ash Ketchum,_" the Hypno spoke telepathically as he stepped to the side and beckoned for Ash to enter the cave. "_I have been waiting for you and your charge._"

"I didn't think you would harm me," Ash said as he shifted the boy's weight in his arms and hesitantly stepped into the mouth of the cave. "I hope I didn't offend you… I just wasn't expecting to be greeted by a Pokémon and it caught me off guard."

"_No apology is needed, Ash Ketchum._"

Ash just nodded and followed the hypnosis Pokémon deeper into the cave where it opened into a large room. At the Hypno's urging, Ash placed his burden down on a waist-high stone slab that was covered with dried grasses and soft mareep wool.

"_I wish to hear the tale of the journey that led you to me starting from the moment you found the child,_" the Hypno requested as he closed his eyes and ran his fingers over the boy's forehead and temples.

"I was on my way home, to Pallet Town, to visit my mother for my birthday when I heard a large group of wild spearow acting up…" Ash began obediently, doing his best to leave out nothing as he spoke of the boy's injuries, his odd behavior, the first nightmare, and the strange power that knocked Ash out and healed the boy's wounds.

He then went on to explain the events leading up to his searching the Lost Wilds for the boy, knowing somehow that the boy was still alive. He spoke of his confusion over the ninetales' behavior and the day the boy was returned to him by the white ninetales. Hypno then listened as Ash spoke of the journey home, his efforts of protecting the boy, the process of trying to gain guardianship of the boy, and the persistent interference from the authorities.

When he began describing the boy's nightmares, the Hypno reacted violently. The Pokémon cried out in physical pain as it fell to its knees grasping its head in its hands as it moaned in agony. Ash hurried to the Pokémon's side and asked if there was anything he could do to help the poor creature but the Hypno didn't respond. Mere seconds after the Hypno's collapse, the boy started screaming and thrashing on the table as his scar burst open once again. Ash rushed back to his soon to be adopted son's side, only to be thrown back by some kind of force field that had formed around the table and the boy laying on it. Not knowing what else to do, Ash continued trying to break through the invisible shield, pounding his hands against the barrier that prevented him from reaching the child.

As he watched what was happening just beyond his reach, Ash saw the blood flowing from the boy's scar turn from red to black as a thick inky substance oozed from the torn flesh. Sickly green light flickered and danced around the disgusting material and Ash nearly gagged as the gunk struggled against the force that was pushing it out from inside the boy. When the last of the stuff finally lifted free of the open cut, the oozing black mass crystallized and crashed to the floor with a metallic sound.

On the table, the boy fell still as fresh blood trickled once more from the cut. On the floor, the Hypno groaned as he crawled away from the table towards the back of the cave where Ash could see clear water running down the wall. Ash's concern for the boy grew when he still didn't wake and from where he was standing he couldn't tell if the boy was actually breathing or not. Getting desperate to reach the child that he'd come to think of as his son, Ash continued throwing himself against the unseen barrier that separated them.

Green mist suddenly began forming inside the shield, blocking everything from site. And from the mist Ash could hear a woman pleading and begging for mercy on behalf of her son. A cruel laugh, a scream, flashes of sinister green light, and the sound of a body hitting the floor followed. Then, inside the shield, the mist began swirling around until it folded in on itself and formed the figure of a strange man. The man was wearing what looked like a purple dress with stars scattered all over it, high heeled boots with gaudy silver star shaped buckles, and a tall pointed hat topped with a single silver bell shaped like a star. He had long white hair that hung down past the middle of his back and wore a matching beard that was tucked into the belt that wrapped around his waist. In his hand, he held a long, thin stick that he pointed at the boy.

Sensing that man wished to harm the child, Ash punched his fist into the force field angrily as he yelled at the man to leave the kid alone. The man ignored him. Several odd colored lights poured forth from the man's stick, each of them striking the limp boy with enough force to shake his tiny body. Those lights were followed by an angry black light that reminded Ash of the nasty ooze that had poured forth out of the boys head. The final light, this one a pale blue shot through with lines of dark gray, landed on the boy and seemed to sink into his skin.

The boy screamed and the barrier separating Ash from him vanished so suddenly that Ash ended up crashing to the ground face first at the unexpected and abrupt disappearance of the shield. Uncaring that he might have hurt himself when he'd fallen, Ash rushed forward to the boy's side in time to watch as each of the lights that the man had cast at him slowly rose out of the child's body and dissipated in the air. As all of the lights, the mist, and the strange ghostlike man vanished, Ash could have sworn he heard the soft tones of a woman singing a lullaby he'd never heard before. Before he could think to look for the source of the singing though, he was at the boy's side checking for injuries and the sound was gone.

In his search, Ash noted that the boy's heartbeat was much stronger than it had been before arriving at the Hypno's Cave, though the count was well over a hundred beats per minute. His breathing was still rather labored but the poor kid had just been through quite an ordeal. He was still extremely pale and the dark circles under his eyes still stood out painfully against his near-white face. The strangest thing, though, was that the expanding bruise under the kid's scar had completely vanished. The surrounding skin still looked irritated, and the cut still bled, but it somehow looked far more benign then it had just moments earlier; before the black substance had poured out from the reopened injury. Under the circumstances, the boy was fine, and it appeared as if there was nothing wrong with him that a long soak in a bathtub, a hot meal, and a good night's rest wouldn't cure.

Letting out the breath he'd been holding, Ash sighed in relief and dropped his head down to rest against the boy's as he felt the tension melt away. He had been so afraid that coming here was going to be a mistake between the frightening violence a few minutes earlier and the rapid decline of the boy's health since his nightmare two days prior. Feeling as though his legs were going to buckle beneath him, Ash shakily hauled himself up onto the stone slab with the boy and carefully hugged the child close as he drifted off to sleep.

When Ash woke sometime later, it was to the sweet music of the boy's slow, steady heartbeat and soft breathing. Ash was so relieved he could have wept for joy as he opened his eyes and studied the peacefully sleeping child in his arms. Slowly, he reached up and began carding his fingers through the boy's hair in a tender show of affection that usually made the boy flinch away. This time though, as his fingers ran through the soft locks of hair and gently kneaded the boy's scalp, the boy snuggled closer to him and practically purred with contentment. It was a sound that brought a smile to Ash's face as he leaned down and placed a kiss on the boy's forehead.

"_Good morning, Ash Ketchum,_" Hypno greeted telepathically as the tall yellow Pokémon approached the stone table with a stone bowl of freshly picked berries. "_I have brought you and your charge fresh berries with which to break your fast._"

"Thank you, Hypno," Ash murmured as he sat up before gently shaking the child in his arms to wake him. "Hey, Sport, rise and shine, buddy."

"Don't wanna," came the mumbled reply as the boy buried his face against Ash's chest.

"I suppose that means I can have your share of the berries then? They look so delicious and…" Ash paused to bite into one of the large pink and yellow mago berries that were shaped like chili peppers. "And they taste so sweet! Mmm… perfectly scrumptious."

In reply, the boy's hand shot out and plucked the berry from Ash's hand with lightning quick speed. With eyes still closed, the boy nibbled away at the stolen fruit while Ash's chest rumbled with laughter.

"I suppose that means you're just a little hungry then, eh, Champ?"

Eventually, after eating nearly two entire berries, the boy wearily sat up and glanced around at their surroundings. Ash figured he was more than slightly disoriented by the lack of sunlight though, because he asked after the mother ninetales in confusion.

"_You are far removed from the Lost Wilds, Child of Destiny,_" The Hypno cast in their direction as the creature mixed an assortment of dried berries, cured herbs, and spring water in a stone bowl with a thin rod of polished amber. "_You have traveled far, Child of Prophecy, and you will travel farther yet, for your true journey has not yet begun. The way back will open exactly twelve years from the day you arrived in this world. You must prepare yourself, for if you fail to do the task which Fate has bestowed upon you, it will tear both of our worlds apart. That which you have lost will be found when the time draws near for you to return._"

Ash was completely bewildered by the shocking revelation that the boy had come from a different world. It sounded so far fetched and unbelievable, and yet, there was a tiny voice in the back of his head that said it made perfect sense, especially when he recalled all of the tiny oddities that surrounded the boy. The boy's insistence that Pokémon hadn't existed where he lived, the lack of progress in tracking down his still missing relatives, his difficulty in coming to terms with a Pokémon's bond with its trainer, and all of the strange bursts of power that the boy sometimes displayed.

None of that explained what had happened to the boy the day before though, the strange stuff that had come out of his scar, the frightening nightmares that seemed to pray upon the child's greatest fears or worst memories, and the strange ghost man who shot strange lights out of an odd stick. Nor did it provide them with the boy's name.

As if the Hypno had heard the questions voiced aloud, the psychic Pokémon continued with his telepathic explanation as he squeezed several drops of fresh lemon juice into the mixture he was stirring. "_The nightmares you have experienced, Child of Dreams, were not natural. There was a dark curse upon your person, cast by the Bearded Demon of your world many years ago, that's sole purpose was to torment your soul. When you crossed into our world, the magics of our two worlds collided and twisted the curse into something even darker. Over the months you have lived in this land, the power of the curse had grown because it was feeding on the magic that lives inside of you. Magic that has grown in power since the restrictions that bound it were left behind when you entered the door._"

"_In the beginning, your magic was able to contain the curse most of the time but as the curse gained power it became impossible to prevent it from affecting your dreams. The poison of the curse has now been cleansed from your system. You might still have simple nightmares that trouble your sleep every now and then but never again will your dreams torment you or cause you physical pain. The residue of the evil curse behind the magically influenced nightmares has been sealed inside this dark crystal; it will harm you no more._" The Hypno paused just long enough to point a finger at the metallic, black rock that was hanging from a thin cord of twine tied to a fissure in the ceiling. "_You may take it with you when you leave, if you so desire. It may prove… useful one day._"

Using telekinetic energy, the Hypno broke several large nuts into hundreds of tiny chunks that he added to the mixture he was making, along with four ounces of preserved honey crystals and an ounce of fresh Moomoo milk. This was stirred until the crystals and the nuts were evenly distributed through the thick dough like batter. Hypno then scooped out large globs of the mixture and dropped each spoonful onto one of the many damp leaves that were spread out over another flat topped rock. When the bowl was empty, the Pokémon set it aside and rolled the drops of dough inside their individual leaves that were tied with a strand of grass to prevent them from unraveling. The small bundles were then placed into the glowing coals of a dying fire to cook.

Turning back to the bowl he'd used to make whatever it was he was making, the Hypno casually lifted the dirty bowl from the rock and placed it in the floor for Pikachu and the vulpix to lick clean. The strange Pokémon then approached the stone table where the boy sat leaning against Ash and squatted down so that his head was level with the boy's.

"_Will you allow me, Fate's Son, to open your mind to your memories so that you might remember who you are?_"

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> _Now… how many of you were actually expecting that? I hope I managed to catch a few of you completely off guard with this chapter. I can also finally answer some of the questions some of you had in regards to Harry's nightmares, the horcruxes, and Ash's seemingly casual acceptance of Harry's magic._

_First up… Yes, the horcruxes will play a role in the story but you won't hear mention of them until some point in the first sequel and they will not function as they do in canon because quite frankly I was always skeptical on how a horcrux could work and the basic idea of carving up a soul on a seeming whim. But that said; they will play a part of the story. However, as demonstrated here, Harry was not (at any point) a horcrux. His scar was the result of dark magic and curses from both Riddle and Dumbledore but you won't learn the full details until much later. _

_The nightmares, including the one Harry had back when he first entered the world, were caused by the dark curse and as Ash had speculated (unknowingly) they were based upon Harry's worst fears and memories. The reason Harry had nights free from those terrible visions was because those were the nights he wasn't alone. I hadn't found a way to work that into the story though… The basic concept was that Harry knew he wasn't alone on those nights and it made his magic stronger in light of that belief and while you could argue that he was never alone because of the Pokémon remember that he has come to see Ash as a savior and a protector of sort which is different than how he sees the two Pokémon. The nights where Ash wasn't beside him were the nights where Harry's insecurities and his fear of loneliness got the better of him allowing the curse to take advantage of his weakness. _

_Now, some of you might ask why he didn't have any nightmares while he was with the family of ninetales then… and that is two fold. One, the curse hadn't quite grown powerful enough and two, the female ninetales had become, in Harry's mind, his mother and protector because she took care of him right alongside of her pups and therefore he felt safe with her nearby and in her home. There was also far more uncertainty surrounding his fate once he returned to Pallet Town… the authorities wanting to place him in an orphanage and Ash fighting to keep him despite the fact that he was single and currently out of a job. So, that's why I went with those sequences of events. I hope that makes sense… I know it did in my mind at one point. _

_Finally, Ash's non-reaction to Harry's accidental magic. I figured that Ash has seen so much through his years (what with his experiences with the legendary Pokémon, strange and powerful trainers and Pokémon, and his various world saving antics) that he was better able to take it in stride. I mean, some of the Pokémon out there have some amazing abilities as do some of the people. The other reason was that Ash was far more concerned with Harry's well-being than any strange power. (Not to mention so many authors make the discovery of Harry's powers a major plot point for the story and I wanted to focus more on Harry's emotional growth since he has only been in the PokéWorld for about a year. Yeah, I know… an entire year being drawn out for eighteen chapters. I promise you the pace of the story will pick up from here on out. =)_

_Anywho… enough rambling here… if there are any questions about this author's note or the revelations in this chapter please feel free to ask them as I will answer them so long as it won't spoil later plot points. If I haven't answered your earlier questions, please feel free to send me a reminder since I do occasionally suffer from a severe case of CRS. ~ Jenn_

**AN 12-05-12:**_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._


	19. A Name Remembered

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><em><span>Chapter 19: A Name Remembered<span>_

_Sunday Morning, June 27, 2003  
>Hypno's Cave, Mt. Coronet, Route 211<br>Sinnoh Region_

The boy stared into the tiny dark eyes of the strange creature in front of him, taking strength from Ash's presence beside him. He opened his mouth to turn down the Pokémon's request only to close it as he recalled the comforting presence inside his mind helping him fight off the most recent nightmare; a presence that felt more than a little like the mental voice of the stoic creature in front of him. He'd longed for a real name for as long as he could remember but he wasn't sure if that was really what he wanted now. He'd meant what he'd yelled at Ash nearly a year ago; that he didn't need any more names. Yet, he didn't want to go his entire life being called 'boy' or 'freak', and while the nicknames Ash had given him were kind of nice, they really weren't _his_ name.

So, instead of answering the Hypno's question, he whispered two simple seeming words full of complex emotions, "I'm scared."

"_That is not unexpected, little Child of Hope,_" Hypno gently replied. "_And while I can assure you that unlocking your memories will not hurt you, you will most likely see things that will cause you pain. Memories that might pierce your heart with the sharpness of grief and loss, fear and neglect, or even anger and hate. Emotions such as these are a part of every person's life and without them a person could not grow._"

The boy turned to bury his face in Ash's belly, completely uncertain and still extremely scared. So much had happened since he crawled through the door, and his life before the door hadn't been all that pleasant either, which is why he'd left in the first place. Here, in this world, he'd experienced kindness, comfort, terror far worse than anything his relatives could inspire, and what he believed was the love of a family. He'd also learned that sometimes looks can be deceiving, for the creatures he'd first thought of as monsters were just different from the creatures he'd known. Sure, there were mean ones, like the birds that had attacked him and the bugs that tried to take the ponyta away, but the others weren't all bad. Even the little shock-mouse, Ash's Pikachu, wasn't a bad Pokémon.

As he sat there thinking, he felt Ash's hand start rubbing circles on his back. The touch, something he'd shied away from not too long ago, helped to relax him and after a minute he pulled away just enough to stare up at the man who'd become his savior, his protector, his comforter, and the closest thing to a father that he could ever remember. The boy's throat tightened with emotion as green eyes met brown and the boy saw concern, support, patience, and calm acceptance in the gaze that met his.

"If I don't…?" the boy half asked of Ash as he continued to stare up at him.

"Then you don't," Ash replied without hesitation. "It will complicate things, but in the long run, it is your choice."

"I'm still scared."

"Everyone gets scared when they have to face the unknown. Being scared is no different than being happy or getting angry. It is a feeling inside of us that rises to the surface when things aren't quite in our control. How you deal with that fear is what truly matters though. You can run away from the fear, you can stand up to the fear, or you can curl up and let the fear paralyze you. Running away from that fear doesn't mean you are weak and confronting your fears doesn't always mean you are brave; but doing nothing is only going to make things worse in the long run."

The child gazed into the brown eyes for a few minutes longer, before turning to look at the Pokémon once more. Without needing to say a word, he communicated his choice to the Hypno before closing his eyes tight as he waited for the inevitable. A few seconds later, he felt a gentle hand, covered in soft fur, come to rest against his forehead before he was suddenly immersed in a sea of black that slowly evolved into a sea of memories.

* * *

><p><em>Sunday Mid-Morning, June 27, 2003<br>Hypno's Cave, Mt. Coronet, Route 211  
>Sinnoh Region<em>

Ash gently laid the boy back down on the stone slab before he slipped down to stand beside the makeshift bed. He felt immensely proud of his soon-to-be son. Despite the kid's fear, he still allowed Hypno to unlock his memories, for the hypnotic Pokémon would have never opened the boy's mind if the boy hadn't given him permission. Now, all there was to do was wait. Shortly after placing the boy in a deep trace, Hypno had explained that the unlocking of the memories could take days, if not weeks, depending on how far the boy needed to go back to learn what he had lost and how readily the boy accepted the information each memory had to offer. Then the tall Pokémon had left Ash on his own as it tended the leaf wrapped dough that had been baking in the embers of the old fire.

As he thought about what the boy might be dealing with, trapped as he was in his own mind now, he stretched out muscles that were stiff from the long night spent sleeping on a stone slab. He then turned to the child and began massaging the boy's arms and legs, to get the blood flowing through his muscles to prevent them from weakening while the boy was in his trance. When he finished, he briefly let Hypno know that he was going to grab the supplies he'd left down at the camp nearly two days ago and that he'd be back either later that night or first thing in the morning; depending on how long it took him to get down to the camp, pack up everything, and then climb back up to the cave. Before he left, he asked Pikachu and the wild vulpix to stay with the boy and watch over him; not that the vulpix would have willingly left the boy alone in the first place.

The trip down to the camp only took four hours, less than half of the time it had taken to climb the path with the boy cradled in his arms. He was happy to see that Charizard and the ponyta were doing just fine, and that all of their supplies (minus the tent that they'd been unable to save) had survived the two days he'd been gone; not that he didn't trust Charizard to watch over their things, he just knew that sometimes things beyond the control of any mortal occurred. Charizard seemed happy to see him but the young ponyta was highly overjoyed as the small fire pony trotted up to him without hesitation and began nuzzling his knee as she wove between his legs.

Giving the friendly Pokémon a pat on the neck, he gently removed her out from under his feet lest she trip him, and quickly began packing up the few belongings that had been used the other night prior to trekking up to the cave with the boy; the packing took him just over an hour. Once he finished, he shouldered both packs and, after sending Charizard off to make his own way (as a reward for being so patient while he was gone and to allow the dragon Pokémon to stretch his wings) headed back up the trail with the wild ponyta following willingly behind.

The return trip up the path took even longer than it had the first time, due to his having to constantly help the ponyta over some of the steeper portions of the trail and having to coax the nervous Pokémon into staying with him. She undoubtedly disliked being so far from the grasslands and the altitude was far colder than the lower elevations she was used to. They ended up having to spend the night tucked between a group of large boulders because Ash hadn't dared try to navigate the treacherous path without the benefit of sunlight; there were far too many chances of them walking off the trail once they reached the summit and the bottom of the caldera was a long ways down. He fished out a few berries for himself and the ponyta before curling up under a couple of blankets.

The next morning, they were up and moving at the first light of dawn, Ash growing anxious to get back to the boy's side.

* * *

><p><em>Sunday Afternoon, July 20, 2003<br>Hypno's Cave, Mt. Coronet, Route 211  
>Sinnoh Region<em>

Three weeks. Three weeks and two days. That was how long Ash had been watching over the boy as he lay unmoving in his trance. It had been a nerve-wrecking three weeks too, not knowing what the child was experiencing or how he was coping with the darker memories that Hypno had hinted that the boy carried. Vulpix and the ponyta hadn't helped Ash's nerves either; the two young Pokémon seeming to go out of their way to cause havoc in the rock cave. If not for Charizard, Ash was sure the two delinquent fire Pokémon would have burnt the cave from the inside out.

Ash had spent a good deal of his time stretching the boy's muscles, changing the bedding underneath the boy frequently to avoid bed sores, and with Hypno's help, getting liquids into the boy two or three times an hour. He also fashioned crude diapers for the boy to wear because there weren't any bed pans in the cave, and with all the liquids they were giving him, the child's body had to periodically empty its bladder.

_Poor kid will most likely be mortified when he wakes up_, Ash thought to himself as he massaged the boy's left foot.

He was just running his thumb down the arch of the boy's foot when said foot twitched and a giggle sounded from the top of the bed. Ash, thinking he'd imagined both the twitch and the giggle, repeated the gesture. When the foot twitched harder and the giggle sounded again, Ash dropped the foot from his hand and bounded up to the top of the slab to find weary but happy green eyes looking up at him.

"Hey, Sport, welcome back! How are you feeling?"

"Tired, sore, and hungry," the boy replied as his stomach let out a loud growl.

"I can imagine. You've been in a trance for three weeks now and your body is now telling you that it isn't happy about it. Once you get up and get moving, though, I'm sure you'll start feeling better in no time."

The boy smiled up at Ash as his eyes fluttered closed and the boy drifted off into sleep, something his body desperately needed after the mental strain of viewing and sorting his memories for so long. After covering the boy with a blanket, Ash went off in search of Hypno, who'd gone outside that morning to meditate. He'd barely made it to the cave entrance when Hypno appeared as if summoned, which is quite possible, for the psychic Pokémon had proved quite adept at 'hearing' brain waves over great distances. He didn't exactly read minds; it was more that he sensed the emotions and intent behind the activity of the brain waves he 'heard'.

Next on the list of things to do was to send an e-mail to his mother, to let her know that the boy had just woken up and that they'd be getting ready to begin their journey home as soon as the boy was up and moving about on his own. Ash had made it a point to keep his mother updated on a near daily basis, though there were a few times when that had been impossible, and she in turn often reminded him to change his underwear, a foible she'd had for as long as he could remember; and it was just as embarrassing at twenty as it had been at ten.

The boy actually slept for sixteen hours before waking up again. He must have been feeling exceedingly better after the long rest, because he managed to sit up on his own when vulpix jumped up onto his stomach and began licking his face. It was the giggling that had alerted Ash that the boy was once again awake.

Hypno, with his usual impeccable timing, arrived just a few minutes behind Ash carrying a piece of thin slate with sliced berries and a couple of the homemade Wild Poffins he'd started baking around the time they'd arrived. Both the poffins and the berry slices had been lightly drizzled with honeyed Moomoo Milk. As soon as the tray of food had been placed in front of him, the boy ate with wild abandon. And while the meal was sweet, because it had been made with all natural ingredients there was far less sugar in it than one would find in similar store bought products which meant that the boy's body easily absorbed the natural sugars instead of rejecting them as it usually did.

Once his food had time to settle, Ash helped the boy do a couple series of stretches before helping him down off the stone slab. When his feet first touched the floor, he nearly collapsed as his legs still felt like jelly. Walking from the table to the nearest wall, a distance of about three meters, was enough to tire the boy out completely; though by the time he'd made the entire trip, he could move about on his own instead of needing someone to support him. Every few hours for the rest of the day, Hypno would bring another tray of berries and poffins for the boy to eat before Ash helped him stretch and walk a short circuit. Each time he completed the routine, he'd feel just that much stronger.

Two days after getting out of bed, the boy had recovered enough that Ash felt they could start on the way back down the mountain to Celestic. The Hypno gifted them with a large supply of the Wild Poffins, a jar of fresh honey, and a jar of honeyed Moomoo Milk in addition to an assortment of fresh mountain berries. In return, the boy gave Hypno the woven basket pack, since the ponyta wouldn't be carrying anything on the hike down, the unopened back of Pokémon food he'd brought with him, and all of the extra long grass blades that he'd woven the baskets out of. Ash also left a set of the metal camping dishes (which included a tin plate, bowl, and cup) as a token of appreciation for helping them. The last thing the psychic Pokémon gave them before they started down the mountain was the dark crystal that had been created from the dark curse leached from the boy's scar; which was placed into Ash's pack because the boy had flinched away from the menacing looking crystal.

As they walked down the trail, the boy spoke of his memories at Ash's request. He'd been reluctant to speak of them at first but gradually he opened up and spoke of everything he'd seen and remembered. The first memories were glossed over a bit as they'd mostly been about the time he'd spent in this world, so since Ash had been there with the boy for most of it, there wasn't a need for him to go into details. These were also the easiest memories for the boy to talk about.

The ones regarding his life with his relatives were hard to speak about, and while he did give some details, he mostly kept the account vague. There was more than enough information provided for Ash to draw his own conclusions regarding the boy's life with his relatives and that was grim enough. It was actually the earliest memories that were the most difficult for the boy to talk about, surprisingly enough. The details of how he ended up at with his relatives were sketchy in his mind, just an impression of a huge man, a flying motorbike, a cat that turned into a woman, and an old man with long white hair and a long white beard.

In contrast, the memory from the night before he'd been sent to live with his relatives was crystal clear. The boy spoke in a haunted voice of how he'd heard his father's voice telling his mother to take him and run before witnessing first hand the murder of his mother by the evil shadow man. That the memory had so closely matched the vision of the nightmares he'd been having before they'd come to see the Hypno spoke volumes about how terrible that memory was and how much the memory had affected the boy's subconscious mind.

The last few memories he'd viewed, right before he'd woken up, were of his mother, father, and three different men. One involved a magical ceremony type thing, where the old man with the long beard and hair performed a spell that made the house they'd been standing in front of disappear inside of a pudgy little man named Peter Pettigrew. In the memory, Pettigrew was called the Keeper three times by the old man.

The next memory involved a man with scars on his face wearing shabby clothes. The man was holding the boy in this memory and regretfully telling his parents that he was given a mission that would take him out of the country for a while. When pressed about his destination, the strange man became exasperated and mumbled something about an order and the mission being secret. His name wasn't spoken in the memory but his father had called the man Moony.

The second to last memory was of his first birthday and both of the men from the other memories were present, though there seemed to be something wrong because the two men were fighting with a third man part of the time, arguing with each other whenever they were all in the same room. It had been more than a little confusing because each one seemed to be blaming one of the others for something none of them ever quite explained in the memory.

The very last memory was the most precious one he'd seen, and at the same time, the most painful. It was the memory of his parents holding him as a bald man in white robes spoke in a funny language while waving a stick around. When the man stopped speaking, his mother spoke his name for the first time. She then passed the boy to his father and the scene was repeated until it was his father's turn to acknowledge the boy's name. His father then passed the boy to another man by the name of Sirius Black and the man in white spoke his words for a third time. Only this time, instead of Sirius repeating the name his parents had called him, he called him by another name. The man named Sirius had called him godson.

By the time the boy had finished speaking of the final memory they'd been walking for five days and they'd nearly reached the end of their short journey. Most of that time Ash had ended up carrying the boy for long stretches as he still tired fairly quickly, especially since talking about the memories took so much out of him. Finally, on the night before they expected to reach town, Ash asked the boy the one question that had been burning in the back of his mind since the child had first woken up over a week earlier.

"So, Sport, what name should I call you?"

"Harry. Harry James Potter, godson of Sirius Black," Harry replied, his voice low and quiet as he sat on a rock petting the wild vulpix who was curled on his lap, sleeping.

"What would you think of the name Harry Ketchum, instead?"

"Really? You want me to have your last name?"

"Yes, if you want that is; I don't want you to feel you have to change your last name if you'd rather keep your mother and father's last name."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> _Finally! Harry has a name! Wow… only took me nineteen chapters. That's a record me thinks (for me at least). I could have just had Ash pick one out of a hat but that seemed too easy and is often overdone in crossovers. The rest of the story should move along in a timelier manner. =)_

_A huge thanks to everyone who has left me a review, they are much appreciated! I'd also like to thank everyone who has added this story to their community or onto their alerts/favorites list. I never really expected this story to generate as much interest as it has and it's been mind boggling and humbling. So… **THANK YOU**… once again ~ Jenn _

**AN 12-05-12:**_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._


	20. Criminals and Presents

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><em><span>Chapter 20: Criminals and Presents<span>_

_Wednesday Afternoon, July 30, 2003  
>Route 211, just outside Celestic Town<br>Sinnoh Region_

They were just stepping off the path that led into the small valley that sat right outside the small town of Celestic when they ran into Madeline preparing to lead another couple into the mountains. Ash locked eyes with the older woman and silently promised her pain as he placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and pulled him protectively behind him as he called out.

"Why, Madeline? Why?" Ash demanded. "Why did you take off and leave us when we needed you most? Do you know that my adopted son might have died if I'd not been able to find the way on my own? Why didn't you ever bother to come back to see if we'd gotten lost on the way back? We could have been stranded there for over a month as far as you knew, with absolutely no way out if I hadn't insisted on going over the route on the way in; which you'd been reluctant to allow in the first place. You betrayed my trust and Lucian's!"

"Stay with you? And that freak of a boy who didn't even know his name? Ha! Would have done the world a favor if the both of you had disappeared off the face of the earth! Screaming fits, unnatural behavior, and the blood… why did I have to worry about you getting lost when you were bound and determined to let the brat bleed to death!"

"_**I'm no freak!**_" Harry hissed out in a voice that sounded nothing like his own as he peered around Ash to glare at the woman with intense, ageless green eyes filled with righteous rage. "**You are nothing more than a bitter and greedy old woman who preys on those she leads into the mountains. You expected to find us dead so that you could loot our possessions, including our Pokémon. You are lawless and alone and when you die no one will mourn your passing.**"

The old woman staggered back as if she'd been physically struck. She then stopped and stood up straight as she pulled several pokéballs from her belt. As she tossed them in the air and attempted to call out her Pokémon, the four spinning balls froze in midair as if trapped by invisible threads.

"**Pokémon will not fight your battles for you this day, old woman. It is time for you to pay for the crimes you have committed against all of the innocent souls you have betrayed.**"

Ash moved quickly to catch Harry as he stumbled suddenly and collapsed to the ground. Behind the woman, the couple that she'd been about to lead into the mountains grabbed her arms as the man pulled out a pair of handcuffs that he quickly slapped on her wrists as the woman, who revealed herself as Officer Jenny in disguise, read the woman her rights. The male undercover officer then led the woman away while Officer Jenny approached Ash where he knelt on the ground cradling Harry.

"Thank you, Mr. Ketchum," Officer Jenny stated without preamble. "We've been trying to find the guide responsible for all of the tourists that had gone missing over the last two years; most of them young trainers that are never seen again. My partner and I were hoping to draw the person out but never expected it was old Madeline. She's always been the one we've sent to search for the missing hikers since she was always the first to volunteer."

"I had no idea," Ash said as he stood up with Harry still in his arms. "I was just angry that she took off like she did. If I hadn't marked the trail on my PokéNav and paid close attention to the paths we were taking on the way in, we'd have gotten lost trying to find our way out. Worse yet, my son was gravely ill at the time she abandoned us. I didn't have anything to do with what just happened though. I'm not even certain what just happened, to tell you the truth."

"You returned at an opportune moment, Mr. Ketchum, and your confrontation with her gave us all the information we needed. Lucian had contacted us after Madeline had told him that you'd left her behind to take a shortcut that she warned you would be far too treacherous. He was really worried, one of the reasons we were heading into the mountains now was to search for you. Will your son be all right? I noticed he collapsed right after you confronted Madeline."

"Right after…? You mean you didn't hear…?" Ash tried to ask, only to trail off as he frowned down at Harry, who had pressed his face against Ash's shoulder in order to hide from Officer Jenny. "He'll be fine; I think he's just tired. He was still not fully recovered and we traveled pretty fast down the trail. We spent most of our time in the mountains with Hypno."

"You said your son was sick?"

"Not exactly sick with any kind of illness. He had been suffering from terrible nightmares that physically caused him pain; which, according to Hypno, was from a curse someone cast upon him when he was just a toddler," Ash explained, "You see, my son is the lost boy that was found in Kanto; you might have seen the news flashes that were trying to track down his family last year."

"Oh, yes, I remember speaking with several of my cousins about tracking down the boy's family. Weren't you also the ones who spent five months in the Lost Wilds between Goldenrod City and Saffron City?"

"Yes, that was us."

"Well, I'm glad that you both are alright now and that your latest adventure outdoors turned out with a happier ending than we feared. If you're both feeling up to it, I'd like the two of you to come with us to the station in Solaceon Town to file a report about your experiences with Madeline. Officer Jack should have radioed for them to send up a police helicopter to transport the prisoner."

"I think we can do that."

"Wonderful, if you'll follow me then?" Officer Jenny said as she led the way into Celestic.

Ash fell into step behind her, his mind running a mile a minute as he thought back to what had just happened. He was certain officer Jenny and her partner had heard every word that Harry had spoken, though it really hadn't sounded like Harry speaking at the time, and yet she acted as if she hadn't. As they reached the town, Harry finally relaxed in his arms, and he looked down to see confused green eyes staring up at him, and Ash suddenly wondered if Harry would remember what he'd said to the woman.

"Why are there pokéballs flying through the air following us, Ash?" Harry asked as Ash shifted him up so he was perched on his hip.

Ash blinked down at Harry at the odd questions before he stopped and turned around to find that Madeline's four pokéballs were still floating behind them. He'd forgotten that she'd tried to start a battle with him or possibly with Harry for the strange things he'd said to her. Plucking the pokéballs out of the air, Ash handed them to Harry to hold until they could turn them over to Officer Jenny without answering the question since he wasn't certain he had an answer.

* * *

><p><em>Wednesday Evening, July 30, 2003<br>Solaceon Town, Sinnoh Region_

The ride to Solaceon Town was relatively quick and boring, as they simply cut across the lower mountains instead of following route two-ten. There'd been a few difficulties in boarding the helicopter at first, because the officer operating the helicopter had tried to insist that Pikachu and the two wild fire Pokémon needed to be inside pokéballs in order to make the trip. Ash calmly explained that none of the three Pokémon had ever been inside pokéballs; Pikachu because he never liked them and the ponyta and the vulpix because they hadn't exactly been captured in the conventional way.

The officer would have made an issue out of it if not for Officer Jenny stepping in (when she came to retrieve Madeline's Pokéballs) and saying it wouldn't be a problem if Ash could guarantee that the three Pokémon would behave during the hour and half flight. In the end, Pikachu and the vulpix road in Ash's pack while the ponyta simply stood between Harry's knees; the young fire horse once again sticking to the boy's side like glue now that he was no suffering from the nightmares.

Once at the station, Ash told their story to Officer Jenny; explaining how they'd met Madeline, how she'd reluctantly gone over the trails with Ash, and how she simply left them without saying a word after setting up camp one night. The female officer tried to coax Harry into adding to the story but all he would say is that he hadn't liked the old woman. When they were finished, Ash led Harry to the Pokémon Center so that their Pokémon could get a quick check up to make certain they were in good health. Afterwards, they checked into one of the two inns that Solaceon sported so that they could have a good long soak in the tub and get a good night's rest.

During breakfast the next morning they ran into Calvin, the trainer who'd captured the rapidash, and the two adults spent several hours catching up with each other while Harry played with rapidash and ponyta in the small clearing out in front of the town's PokéMart. During the afternoon Ash and Harry took a guided tour through the room just to the east of Solaceon Town and Harry got his first look at a wild unown. One of the odd shaped Pokémon had been hovering invisibly against the cave wall when Harry had brushed a hand over it on accident and the strange creature had given off a strange humming cry before rocketing off down the tunnel.

Ten minutes after the unown disappeared, an entire pack of different shaped unown converged on them from all directions. The other people in their tour group panicked and fled with their guide as the hovering creatures danced around a startled Harry. Ash was wondering if the wild Pokémon were going to cause problems but his worries were put to rest after a few minutes when the unown slowed to a stop right in front of Harry and shuffled around until their bodies appeared to spell out the phrase:

**HAPPY SIXTH BIRTHDAY YOUNG WIZARD**

Ash was stunned. He knew the odd unown Pokémon looked like strangely shaped letters but he'd had no idea that the creatures would or could communicate by forming patterns with their different bodies. His past experiences with the psychic Pokémon having been far different and far less benign. And that the unown somehow knew it was Harry's birthday, something neither Ash nor Harry had known even after his memories had been unlocked, was mind boggling; that they even knew Harry's exact age was uncanny. Ash wasn't surprised that the unown knew Harry was a wizard, though this was the first time Ash had thought of the boy as such, because most Pokémon were sensitive to the presence of magic; the unown especially because of their psychic abilities.

"What are they doing, Ash?" Harry whispered as the Pokémon hovered in front of him, chittering and chirping at him in their odd humming tones.

"They are wishing you a happy sixth birthday, Sport," Ash replied as he pointed out each of the words for the young boy, knowing he hadn't yet learned to read. Taking out his PokéNav, Ash took a couple pictures of the unown that he would send to Professor Oak later in hopes that the researcher might have some idea of how the Pokémon had known. "I guess that means we need to have a party."

"A party? Why do we have to have a party?"

"To celebrate your birthday!" Ash exclaimed as he lifted Harry up and swung him around. Harry giggled and gave Ash a huge smile when his feet touched the ground once again.

When they next became aware of their surroundings, the unown had disappeared back to wherever they had been before they felt the need to wish the child a happy birthday. Not more then ten minutes later, their guide reappeared with a dozen Pokémon Rangers with the intent of rescuing them from the vicious and unpredictable wild Pokémon. The rangers and the guide were visibly confused by the lack of attacking wild Pokémon.

That evening in their hotel room Ash, Harry, and all of the Pokémon with them, celebrated Harry's birthday after supper with cake and ice cream. It was fairly simple, as far as birthdays go; with a distinct lack of huge, towering piles of presents, no rowdy kids playing wild games, and an absence of fancy decorations. But in Harry's mind it was the best birthday party he'd ever had; and the first one he could remember experiencing, other than the memory he'd seen of the only birthday he'd shared with his birth parents.

Before bed that night, Ash called his mother and asked her to fill in the missing information from the guardianship and adoption forms he'd left on his desk and send it in for him. He also informed her that he'd forwarded some videos and pictures to Professor Oak that she might be interested in seeing.

The next morning, after they'd packed their belongings and checked out of their room, Ash took Harry to visit the Pokémon Nursery in town. Before they left, the caretaker, upon learning of Harry's recent birthday, gave the boy a Pokémon egg he'd found when he was checking on the Pokémon that morning. Harry had been a bit disturbed at the idea of stealing a Pokémon's egg from it at first but the daycare man calmly explained that Pokémon eggs had a better chance of hatching if they were kept warm and protected by a person. The man also explained that most times the eggs he found didn't even belong to the Pokémon that he found holding it.

Ash warmly thanked the man for his gift, when it appeared Harry was still too shell-shocked to do so himself, and the pair headed north to route two-ten. They were on their way back to Veilstone City where they'd either catch a flight back to Kanto or book a cabin on a ship for a more leisurely trip home.

The next three weeks passed in an unhurried fashion as the pair explored the grasslands of routes two-ten and two-fifteen. There was no reason for them to rush back home so they wove back and forth across the paths and trails, investigating anything that looked even remotely interesting. They got into battles with wild Pokémon, had friendly matches with other traveling trainers, and took hundreds of photographs during the day. At night, the two of them would sit beside the campfire as Ash began teaching Harry how to read, write, and count up to a hundred.

About two days before they reached Veilstone City, Ash received a call from Hoenn regarding the training of Ash's replacement Gym Leader. Ash apologized for not getting in touch earlier, he'd forgotten all about needing to help the man who was taking over as Leader of the Slateport Gym since he'd quit during the previous summer. The poor guy was frantic because there'd been an influx of new trainers looking to get gym badges in Slateport and the kids were getting rowdy and he couldn't keep with them all. Ash immediately promised the new leader that he'd be there in two or three days to help him. With a new deadline to meet, Ash packed up their camp and then he and Harry climbed onto Charizard's back so the dragon Pokémon could fly them into Veilstone that night.

The next morning they caught a flight to Hoenn, which was a bit closer to Sinnoh than Kanto. Once they landed in the seaport city, Ash enrolled Harry in a summer day school so his soon to be son would have something to keep him occupied while he spent the days down at the Gym battling trainers in tandem with the man who was taking over leadership of the gym.

Harry had difficulty the first few days adjusting to spending time with other children his age. His previous experiences with other children had been quite terrible; having been on the receiving end of far too many attacks at the hands of his cousin who had led the local gang of bullies. Eventually, after realizing that not all kids were like his cousin, he opened up and made a couple of friends and soon began to really enjoy spending time with the other kids down at the beach during the afternoons after school.

After they'd been in Slateport for a little over four weeks, Delia called with the news that Ash's guardianship and adoption of Harry had been approved the day before. That night Ash took Harry out for a celebratory dinner on the ferry that usually traveled between Slateport City and Lilycove City. Harry was so enthralled with the idea of traveling on a boat that Ash booked them a round-trip fare between the two cities for the coming weekend, when Ash could take some time off from the Gym.

Around the end of November, the incoming rush of trainers trailed off to a sporadic trickle and preparations were made for Ash and Harry to fly home to Kanto. Harry was sad to say goodbye to his first ever friends but perked up a bit when they all promised to keep in touch by phone and e-mail.

They landed in Vermilion City on the twenty-ninth of November and the pair was met by a fairly small group of friends and family. Hugs were given out freely as everyone offered congratulations to Ash and Harry on their successful trip and the approved guardianship. Many of the adults also gave Harry belated birthday presents that included several books on the different types of Pokémon and where they could be found, new clothes, a few sugar free treats, and his very own PokéNav from his new grandmother, Delia. It was quite overwhelming for the small boy, who was unused to all of the attention, and he ended up hiding behind Ash as his emotions bounced out of control.

Since the weather had turned colder, it was decided that everyone would fly back to Viridian City instead of hiking the long way around or going by sea. While in Viridian City; Ash signed a six-month lease on a cute little rental cottage that he and Harry would be moving into after the winter holidays. The two of them would spend the winter and most of the spring there as Harry attended the local school until classes let out for summer vacation. Ash, on the other hand, would be spending the time doing some local research for Professor Oak, monitoring the impact that the increased numbers of visiting tourists were having on the local Pokémon populations.

December passed by in a whirlwind of clothes shopping, Christmas shopping, Christmas baking, and last minute preparations for the holidays. It was a unique experience for the six year old Harry, as he was allowed to purchase gifts for Ash, Delia, Professor Oak, and the friends he'd made in Slateport. He also helped make the homemade poffins, cookies, and candies that Delia gave to her neighbors and their Pokémon as gifts every year. He had missed out on having a similar experience during the previous winter holidays due to the fact that they'd still been deep inside the Lost Wilds at that time.

Christmas day was another first for Harry, as he opened a rather large pile of gifts that he'd received from all of the people he'd met and even a few he hadn't. The best present of all though, in Harry's mind, was the hatching of the Pokémon egg he'd been given for his birthday by the daycare man back in July. He'd been diligently lugging the heavy egg around in his backpack ever since it had been given to him. He'd been disappointed when it didn't hatch right away but Ash had kept reminding him that it took time for an egg to hatch.

They'd been sitting at the table, eating a light supper (since they were still fairly stuffed from the huge Christmas Dinner they'd eaten earlier in the afternoon), when Harry's backpack sitting on the floor in the living room began shaking back and forth. The wild vulpix and ponyta had both given excited cries as the two fire Pokémon rushed over to the bag, with Pikachu joining them a second later.

Harry, after getting a slight push from Ash, joined the Pokémon surrounding his backpack and carefully unzipped the bag to reveal the rapidly rocking egg. Scraping and hissing sounds could be heard from inside the egg as it wobbled faster and faster, until suddenly it shattered into dozens of pieces as a long, thin, blue and white body sprawled out on top of the scattered shards.

The Pokémon looked something like a snake, in that it had no legs and its body was covered in scales. Unlike a snake though, it had large fin-like ears that stuck out on either side of its head, and had a tiny stub of a horn in the middle of its forehead. Harry's egg had hatched into a water-dragon, dratini.

Gary Oak, Professor Oak's grandson who'd been eating with them at the time, tried to get Harry to put his new Pokémon inside of a pokéball. Harry had adamantly refused, much to Gary's irritation, stating that he wouldn't stuff his friends into tiny, cramped balls. Gary ended up mumbling something about the kid being far too stubborn and taking after Ash too much.

* * *

><p><strong>AN 12-05-12:<strong>_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._


	21. Interlude with a Megalomaniac

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><em><span>Chapter 21: Interlude with a Megalomaniac<span>_

_October 05, 1985 to May 31, 1986  
>Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts, Scotland &amp;<br>No. 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey  
><em>

It had taken Dumbledore nearly two full months after coming up with the brilliant plan of replacing the missing Boy-Hero with a life-like clone to actually produce a clone that could pass a simple inspection. There'd been multiple failures during that time, which caused the ancient manipulator's anger towards the missing boy and his as-of-yet unnamed rescuer to multiply in leaps and bounds. But finally, after experimenting with different materials and various combinations of charms and wards, he'd come up with a better clone than his look-a-like-phoenix; which he'd needed to replace over eight times during the process of creating the Potter clone.

In fact, due to the high number of replacement birds that he'd been forced to transfigure since the boy first disappeared, Dumbledore had refined the process he used to create the phoenixes. The new birds were now made from crow feathers, modified Floo Powder, glass, sand, and aluminum foil with a gold and diamond heart that functioned as the permanent portkey instead of the transfigured doves he'd been using before. The feathers, glass, and sand made up the basic body of the bird with the 'heart' situated in the very center of the creation instead of where the heart would normally be located. The modified Floo Powder actually simulated flames when the portkey activated; which flashed brightly when activated and realistically mimicked a phoenix's ability to flame from one place to another.

The foil, purchased from a muggle store, helped to both collect and reflect the minimal amounts of heat generated by the Floo fire and the magic of the bird clone threw the gathered heat out away from itself to give others the impression of intense heat. The new charms and spells on the fake phoenix also had a built in transfiguration trigger so that instead of the fake bird disintegrating into a pile of unusable ash when it was 'killed', it would be transfigured into a mock baby phoenix, with the 'heart' securely encased inside the new body, thus making it far easier to retransfigure the blasted bird back into its proper form.

The Potter clone, on the other hand, was far more complex. The basic frame was made from living holly wood, sand, glass, and the blood of a newborn unicorn. It was shaped to look like an exact replica of the missing child, right down to the lightning bolt scare and messy Potter hair. Beneath the skin, instead of blood, it had a special potion made with phoenix tears and phoenix blood (purchased from the black market) mixed with a derivative of the Wolfsbane Potion that would allow the skin of the clone to 'heal' minor cuts and other injuries over time.

This human clone, like the new improved phoenix, also had a gold and diamond heart inside of it, though it held far different spells and charms than the heart of his phoenix. There were animation charms, several basic protection wards (to prevent fire and water damage), temperature regulating spells (to simulate a normal and constant body temperature), and several monitoring charms that would allow Dumbledore to both see and hear everything going on around the clone. Basically, the heart was the 'engine' that powered the clone, giving it a form of simulated life. Once the wards on the Dursley's house were modified from magical suppression wards to ambient magical collection wards, the heart would be able to draw energy from the very air inside of the house as the wards drew the magic into the house. The heart also had a tracking beacon that could be activated remotely in the event that someone kidnapped the clone thinking it was the real boy.

Special wards were woven around the body of the clone to prevent an excessive amount of magical discharge from being released. This would help prevent power loss through the magical bleed-off that was common in magical engines such as the one he'd designed for the clone. It would also prevent the underage detectors that Dumbledore had allowed the Ministry to place around the boy's house from being constantly tripped by the leaking magic. To simulate the recognized energy signature of the missing boy, Albus used a few drops of the boy's blood and a couple of hairs – taken on the night his parents were murdered and saved for an emergency such as had happened – to bind the magic in the boy's blood to the clone so that it replicated the signature of the boy closely enough not to raise any questions.

In order to make life a little easier on the Dursley's (and the stupid muggles a bit more biddable), the clone would not require any kind of food or basic upkeep and had no voice box with which to speak; meaning that it couldn't talk back to the Dursleys or talk to strangers in an attempt to give away any secrets of the Dursleys. Over all, the clone was a vast improvement on the real Boy-Who-Lived; if you asked Dumbledore's opinion on the matter.

Two days after completing the new clone, Dumbledore took the 'boy' back to the Dursleys and modified their memories to account for the two months that the child had been missing. The cover story Albus had decided on was that the boy had been ill with strep throat (a muggle illness he knew next to nothing about*) and had suffered an allergic reaction to the medication that had been used to treat him. The end result was that the boy's vocal cords were so damaged by the infection and the allergic reaction that he lost the ability to speak. This way, none of the neighbors would expect the boy to talk to them should they happen to see him out around the house. That same day an invisible Dumbledore also paid Arabella Fig, the squib he'd placed a few blocks over to watch over the boy, a visit in order to modify her memories of the past few months to match the Dursley's version, just in case anyone from the Order questioned her about the boy.

And, while it hadn't been Albus's first choice, he was secretly pleased that he'd been given the opportunity to create the clone because it would be far easier to control than the real thing would have been. The only thing that would make Dumbledore happier was if the boy died sometime before he was due to start Hogwarts. As the charmed letters that were sent out to the students were the only magical object, other than a blood quill, which could prove Harry the Clone wasn't Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived.

The goblins would be a little difficult to deal with, if the boy had been in touch with them at any point after disappearing from his home, but a few compulsion charms, an imperious or two, and a few drops of the remaining Potter boy's blood should help smooth things over. Besides, he'd confiscated all of the Potter Vault keys the night James and Lily had perished, along with anything of value from the house; which meant the missing boy had no way of accessing the vaults unless he petitioned the goblins directly.

Around the middle of January, Dumbledore's mood took an abrupt turn for the better. He was sitting in his office, going over the numerous complaints about Severus Snape's acidic nature and poor teaching style, when two of his monitors that kept track of the Potter brat began malfunctioning. As he rose to study the machines, he let out a soft sinister chuckle as the one tracking Harry's life force began belching out black smoke in huge quantities. The boy was dead.

In celebrating the boy's supposed death; Albus forgot to check the other device that had malfunctioned at the same time. This other machine was one that he'd tied to the boy's magical core to monitor the child's power levels, and if Dumbledore had paid it any attention, he would have seen that in spite of the other machine saying the missing child was dead, this machine reported that the child's power levels had more than doubled – a direct result of being away from the power suppression wards and having the nightmare curse broken (because said curse had been sustained by a direct link to the boy's magical core).

In his glee, Albus quickly adjusted all the monitors – including the unchecked core scanner – so that they now monitored the clone he'd created. This singular action would later cause Albus a whole lot of grief but he wouldn't know that until after it was far too late to do anything about it.

There was a brief moment, right after he switched the primary focus of the machines, when he considered the possibility that one of Voldemort's followers had taken the boy and used him to resurrect Voldemort. However, a quick examination of the machines he'd tied to Riddle, while the boy had still been enrolled at Hogwarts, confirmed that the man was still bodiless and somewhere out in the middle of the Albanian Forests.

Satisfied with the latest revelation about the missing Potter child, Albus returned to his desk and filed all of the complaints about his pet Death Eater into the appropriate bin, the garbage bin, where they were all greedily digested by the magical construct. Now Dumbledore felt confident that he had well over five and a half years in which to improve and upgrade the Potter clone so that it could function at Hogwarts. The first of which, would be a more advanced model that could cook, clean, and perform basic yard work for the Dursleys instead of going to school (the Dursleys having been mentally programmed to use the excuse that the boy had to have special classes due to his new disability and that they'd hired private tutors to teach him).

The new, improved clone was delivered at the very end of May, just in time for it to be of benefit to the Dursleys in getting their yard in top condition for the rest of spring and summer.

* * *

><p><em>Monday Morning, January 05, 2004<br>Viridian City, Kanto Region_

New Year's was a quiet celebration for the Ketchum family, as the three of them traveled to Goldenrod City for a fancy supper and to watch the fireworks. Harry still distrusted crowds but after his time living in Slateport he didn't panic the way he had when they'd first landed in Veilstone City. This made it far easier for the new family of three to travel short distances to visit friends or head into the larger cities to purchase various supplies and groceries.

The only down side to traveling with Harry was that all three of his Pokémon were bound and determined to go every where with him. The vulpix and the slender dratini weren't an issue; both Pokémon was still fairly small and could ride in Harry's backpack whenever they traveled. But the young ponyta was now nearly as tall as the boy, the filly having thrived in the milder climate of first Slateport and then Pallet Town. And no matter who approached him with the suggestion, Harry absolutely refused to allow any of his friends to be placed inside of a pokéball.

When Professor Oak once asked why, the boy had simply looked up at the older man with tormented green eyes and said in a stern voice, "No one should have to live inside of tiny dark spaces for days or weeks at a time."

That statement poignantly reminded the professor and the older Ketchums that young Harry had grown up in a borderline abusive household prior to him finding his way to their world. The professor, however, instead of backing off and giving up on getting the boy to cooperate, contacted the granddaughter of an old friend in Johto who made pokéballs from Apricorns and asked her if there was a way to make the pokéballs larger on the inside than they were on the outside. She agreed to try but made no promises on getting the desired results. When the professor passed on the news to Ash, the longtime trainer was intrigued by the idea and thought that maybe, if such a pokéball could be made, that Harry wouldn't be so against traveling with his Pokémon inside them, especially if it was just for short periods of time.

Over the last week in December and the first weekend in January, Ash and Harry moved into their new three bedroom, two bathroom, single level cottage in Viridian. Ash had purchased all new furniture for the house using the considerably large fortune he had amassed as a trainer, gym leader, and multi-league champion through the years. The now twenty-one year old man was extremely happy that he'd listened to his mother all those years ago and put at least half of all his winnings into a savings account. He'd even taken the two hundred dollars that Calvin had given Harry and opened a savings account for his new son shortly after returning to Kanto at the end of the previous year.

Harry's room, which he was allowed to decorate by himself, was an odd mix of dark grays and darker browns. When finished, the room looked like an underground cave with dark brown carpeting, granite gray walls (with flecks of lighter grays and black shot through the paint), and a medium gray ceiling. Over the two windows he'd hung thick dark brown curtains that blocked out most of the sunlight when closed. His bed, desk, and dresser were all stained a medium brown and had pale gray handles on the drawers. For bedding, he had picked out light gray sheets, one light brown blanket, one dark gray blanket, and a dark brown comforter that matched the curtains.

Over all, it was a surprisingly dark room, which was odd because Harry hadn't really seemed all that comfortable in small dark spaces. However, when asked why he chose the colors he did, Harry said it reminded him of the months he spent living with the mother ninetales in the wilds. This, in a way, made perfect sense, because that cave was the first place that Harry had called home in this world.

Ash's room, by contrast, was a clash of contradictions and bright colors. He had bright grass green carpet, the walls were painted to look like snow covered mountains under a clear blue sky, and the ceiling was painted to look like the night sky. His furniture was all painted charizard orange with brass fixtures and his bedding was made up of several different shades of dark red. Over his two windows he'd hung bright yellow curtains that allowed the sunlight to filter in during the day and light up the room, making the entire room the complete polar opposite of Harry's.

The third bedroom was turned into a mini office and laboratory for the research that Ash would be doing for Professor Oak. With pale gray linoleum floors, soft white walls, two metal tables, a matching desk, and sheer white curtains over the windows, it was the most sanitary looking room in the house. Even the computers looked sterile with their off-white casing and accessories. Of course, the only reason it wasn't decked out in the same garish colors as Ash's bedroom was because the office slash laboratory had been set up by Professor Oak's aides after the professor got one good look at Ash's choice of bedroom furniture and decorations.

Both bathrooms were done in light blues and whites, the kitchen in muted yellows, and the living room in softer and lighter shades of brown than Harry's room. Pokémon décor, in the form of soft water color paintings, crisp lifelike posters, and charming mosaics, covered the walls of the entire cottage; except for the living room and Harry's bedroom. The living room walls were dedicated to a montage of photos from Ash's childhood and teenage years, as well as a large assortment of the pictures he'd taken of Harry on their journey to Mt. Coronet. There were even a few of Harry with his new friends playing on the beaches of Slateport. Harry's walls were left bare by choice; the young boy uncertain of what he wanted to have on them.

Being situated in a rather small city, the cottage had a decent size backyard even though it was far smaller than Delia's house in Pallet Town. Ash had plans to build a solid fence around the perimeter and a three-sided stall for the growing ponyta to use during the day while Harry was at school. He'd also need to put in a fairly good sized pond for the dratini as the water dragon needed to spend a fair amount of time in the water so his skin and scales didn't dry out. For now, since the ground was frozen under a light layer of snow, he simply planned on keeping the friendly fire horse with him as he traveled through the wild Pokémon habitats that surrounded the edge of town. The dratini, on the other hand, would be making use of the bathtub in the second bathroom until the pond could be dug.

There was no need to worry about where the vulpix was going to be while Harry was in school; the feisty fire-fox never left Harry's side. The crazy vulpix often went so far as to join the kid whenever he took a bath. There was no way the determined Pokémon could be convinced to stay away from the school and in a way Ash was glad that the tiny creature never left the boy's side. It meant that no matter where Harry was he'd have the protection of the vulpix.

On the first Monday after New Years, Ash walked Harry to his new school for the first time. Harry was a bit nervous about meeting new people but he was no where near as clingy as he had been that first day at the school in Slateport. Ash gave him a hug at the entrance to the school's playground and promised to meet him in the exact same place right after school. Harry nodded to show he heard him, then reluctantly stepped inside the playground and made his way over to where one of the teachers were watching some of the other children play.

Ash stayed just outside the gate watching as the other children noticed Harry for the first time and as one surrounded the nervous boy so they could be introduced. He couldn't bring himself to leave until he knew Harry would be aright; which happened to be shortly after the bell rang and the children filed into their respective classrooms when Harry glanced back at him and waved one last time before vanishing inside. Briefly, he wondered if the concern, pride, and loneliness he felt right that minute was how his mother felt on the day he started school for the first time or the day he'd left home to start his Pokémon journey all those years ago.

Smiling wistfully, he herded the reluctant ponyta out towards the edge of town to set up some of the monitoring equipment Gary had dropped off for his grandfather the day before. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

><p><strong>AN 12-05-12:<strong>_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._


	22. Building Routines and Regression

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><em><span>Chapter 22: Building Routines and Regression<span>_

_Friday Mid-Morning, April 16, 2004  
>Viridian's Pokémon AcademyPrimary School  
>Viridian City, Kanto Region<em>

The next two months were spent settling into their daily routines. On weekdays, Ash would be up by five thirty every morning and have breakfast waiting for Harry by six thirty. The little vulpix took over waking up Harry just a few minutes before six after the first three days of school; which gave the kid plenty of time to get dressed and make certain he had everything he needed to take with him packed in his backpack by the time his breakfast was set on the table. Harry would then wash and put away the dishes while Ash got ready for the day before spending fifteen minutes with his ponyta and another fifteen minutes with his dratini; that time spent making sure that both of the Pokémon he had to leave behind knew that he'd miss them while he was gone.

By seven forty-five, Ash and Harry were both out the door and on the way to the school, where they'd say good-bye just outside of the schoolyard fence (the little vulpix tucked inside of Harry's backpack where he wouldn't be seen). Harry would then spend fifteen or twenty minutes playing with some of the other kids he'd gotten to know before heading inside to class, while Ash and the young ponyta headed out to collect data from the various monitoring devices that he'd set up outside of the small city. By the time the last bell signaled the end of the day at two forty-five, Ash and the eager fire-pony were back outside the schoolyard waiting for Harry and the vulpix so that the four of them could walk home together.

Once home, Harry would then spend another fifteen minutes with the two Pokémon he couldn't take with him to class before spending the rest of the afternoon doing his homework. Ash, in the meantime, would be in his office entering the latest wild Pokémon data into the computer. At around six o'clock, or sooner if one or the other finished early, the pair would take a break from their various tasks and meet in the kitchen to make supper together. Then, depending on if he was finished with his school work or not, Harry would spend the rest of the evening playing with the Pokémon. This usually involved grooming the trio, attempting to teach the Pokémon to play an assortment of board games, or sometimes the four of them would just curl up in the living room and watch a movie together instead.

At eight, Harry would take a quick shower before getting ready for bed; meaning he helped make and pack his lunch for the next day, set out the clothes he'd wear in the morning, and pack up his school books and all of his homework in his backpack before hugging Ash goodnight and crawling into bed. Ash would usually come in to tuck him it a few minutes later before heading off to his own bed for the night.

The weekends were devoted entirely to each other. On Friday afternoons the moment they finished dinner; they packed their bags, grabbed their camping equipment, and headed out to various points of interest all around Kanto. These trips usually involved lots of hiking, several wild Pokémon battles, and camping out in the middle of nowhere. They never ventured too far away from Viridian but only because it was still fairly chilly out and they didn't want to get stuck anywhere since Harry was due back at school first thing Monday mornings.

It was a special time for father and son though, because it allowed them to deepen the bond they'd begun developing during the past year first on their journey out of the Lost Wilds and later during the journey they'd taken to help Harry rediscover his name. It also gave all of their Pokémon a chance to stretch their legs periodically so that none of them became too bored – this was especially true of Ash's Pokémon because they spent so much time inside pokéballs; not counting Pikachu.

Around the last day of March, right about the same time Dumbledore was replacing the Potter clone with an upgraded model back in Harry's original world, Ash decided to purchase the house they'd been living in for nearly three months. He wasn't living with the daily adrenalin rush of battles like he had as a Gym Leader but he felt that what he was doing now was more meaningful and productive and felt it was time to settle down. That and his mother kept reminding him that Harry really needed stability during these early years.

Harry's classes were going great, especially considering that he had basically been far behind his peers due to his late start. He made up for it by being eager to learn and a quick study, drinking in the information at a phenomenal rate that impressed most of his teachers. The tutoring Ash had done with him during their trip to Sinnoh and his time spent in Slateport helped tremendously as well. Math, reading, and science were a few of his favorite subjects but what he really excelled at was art. Harry especially loved to draw, sketch, and paint anything and everything; though he seemed to fixate on doors quite a bit in the beginning. And he was fairly good at it too, even if his earliest drawings were rather simplistic.

On the other hand, he was barely passing history. He was extremely far behind the other students in that he had not grown up with the legends and myths that the other children had. In fact, there wasn't even a common thread to tie his original world's history into this world's history. And the poor kid's personality clashed with the history teacher with explosive force, mostly because Harry questioned everything. It wasn't as if he was asking difficult questions to cause trouble, he was honestly trying to understand how the world around him worked. The teacher, of course, took offense and constantly nit-picked over everything that Harry did. Harry, used to far worse treatment in his earlier life, tried to ignore it for the most part but then in mid-April the man went too far in Harry's mind; he addressed Harry as 'boy' while degrading him in front of the class for asking a question about the roles of the various Legendary Pokémon in history.

Harry snapped; much as he had over the treatment he'd been given by that one police officer and when the old woman had called him a freak (not that Harry recalled either of those episodes). His teacher had, like the two adults before him, become verbally abusive after listening to the words spoken by Harry in that unnatural voice. Harry, unaware of the things he'd told the man, called him several names in return which only angered the man even further. Harry stubbornly and defiantly stood his ground as the man advanced on him. Unexpectedly, the teacher reached out and grabbed Harry's arms roughly and shook him.

Harry immediately went from angry and offended over the teacher's verbal cruelty to utterly terrified by the frightening resemblance of the man's behavior to that of his uncle. The physical pain from the man's harsh grip coupled with the helpless fear-fueled rage that filled him over being treated so cruelly by yet another adult made his magic flare wildly. The air filled with static electricity as a shock wave tore through the classroom, buffeting the teacher and shoving everything that wasn't bolted to the floor out and away from him; except for the other children who'd taken refuge under their desks, which were secured firmly to the floor, the moment the teacher had grabbed hold of Harry.

The teacher, frightened by the powerful display, shook Harry a second time and lifted the boy completely off the ground. What the man would have done next is hard to say, because at that point the wild vulpix made its presence known. The enraged Pokémon had slipped out of Harry's back pack the moment Harry started yelling at the teacher and would have prevented Harry from being grabbed in the first place if not for the children and desks that had been in the way. When the teacher lifted Harry's off the floor, the vulpix had jumped over the nearest desk, grabbed the man's pant leg in his teeth, and began growling and tugging at the fabric.

While vulpix was trying to protect him, Harry had gone into shock; his mind fleeing from the physical world as terrible memories from the time he'd spent with his relatives drowned out everything else. His body, no longer under his conscious control, simply went limp in the man's arms as his magic flared a second time before it vanished completely. Vulpix whined when the small Pokémon felt Harry's magic vanish as suddenly as it had appeared and immediately let go of the man's pant leg in favor of biting the man's actual leg. The man, of course, retaliated by kicking the vulpix.

It was at that exact moment that the principal of the school, having heard the commotion from his office down the hall, arrived on the scene. The older man rushed into the classroom to find the room practically torn apart with children cowering tearfully under the desks and the teacher standing in the middle of the room holding an unmoving child in the air while kicking a tiny Pokémon that was biting the teacher's ankle.

While all that was occurring at the school, Ash, who'd been checking the equipment he'd placed along the outer edge of the Viridian Forest, was pulled from his inspections by a frantic ponyta. The fire horse had begun pacing back and forth nervously, throwing her head left and right as she neighed and whinnied in annoyance. He frowned at the normally placid filly and was just heading to her side to calm her down when the clearly agitated Pokémon took off at a dead run back towards town. At the exact same time, an unexpected storm cropped up from out of nowhere.

Pikachu sniffed the air once before taking off after the vanishing ponyta and Ash felt his blood run cold as a familiar sense of impending doom flooded through him. His thoughts immediately turned to his son as he dropped the apparatus he'd been holding and followed the Pokémon. A bare two minutes after appearing out of nowhere, the strange storm vanished, leaving behind a super charged atmosphere that spurred Ash to run even faster.

By the time Ash arrived at the school, the place was swarming with policemen, firemen, emergency medical personnel, and reporters. Off to one side, out on the playground, sat row after row of nervous children who were watched over by several obviously agitated teachers. Through the press of the growing crowd, he could see Harry's wild ponyta pacing agitatedly in front of the school's main entrance, screaming at those preventing her from entering the building. Ash quickly scanned the faces of the children look for Harry but he couldn't see him with the other students. In fact, Harry's entire class seemed to be missing from the group.

Shoving the gawking townsfolk out of his way, Ash slowly worked his way to the front of the crowd as he continued to look for Harry. He was just reaching the line of officers that were trying to maintain order of the crowds when a familiar haunting howl split the air. Ash felt his knees buckle as he recognized the vulpix's cry; a sound he hadn't heard the fiery Pokémon make since Harry's last curse induced nightmare, when the tent had been burned down. The sound of a second howl cutting off sharply and ending with a yip of pain flushed the weakness from his muscles and spurred him into action as he flung Charizard's pokéball high into the air and asked the fierce dragon Pokémon to find Harry.

The enormous Pokémon immediately roared out a deafening cry before taking to the sky as he angled around the school building, heading in the direction of the history classroom with Ash chasing after his shadow, despite the protests of the officers monitoring the crowds. Just as they reached the room, an intense wave of heat shattered the windows and a good portion of the wall. Ash barely dropped down in time to avoid the worst of the explosion as he struggled to ignore the heat and move closer.

He'd nearly reached the worst section of the damaged wall when he could make out the shadow of a small Pokémon dragging something through the smoke and debris just a few feet in front of him. The shifting of the wind soon revealed the limping form of the tiny vulpix struggling to drag the unmoving form of a child. Ash found it difficult to breathe as he recognized the shirt Harry had been wearing that morning along with his son's mop of messy black hair and he sank to the ground in distress as the firemen and several officers came pouring around the edge of the building in response to the explosion. Not more than a second later, Ash shook off his shock, climbed back to his feet, and hurried to cross the last dozen feet that separated him from his son.

The first thing he noticed was the slow but steady rise and fall of the boy's chest as he breathed, the second thing was the vacant look in his eyes, and the third were the blossoming bruises on both of Harry's arms and on his left temple. Relief at finding Harry alive was quickly replaced with anger as the size and shape of the bruising on Harry's arms finally registered in his mind. A soft whine at his side brought his attention to the battered vulpix that was standing awkwardly beside him.

"Oh, little troublemaker, you look like I feel," Ash murmured as he gathered Harry into his arms and stood up. "We'll get you taken care of in just a moment here, hold on little fella."

Ash had barely gone two steps when Pikachu and the ponyta appeared from inside the destroyed classroom leading out a line of frightened and soot covered children while Charizard dropped down out of the sky beside him. Ash quickly passed Harry to Charizard before gingerly lifting the injured vulpix up off the ground. The poor creature whined and whimpered but otherwise didn't protest being picked up.

As he turned to follow Charizard back around to the front of the building, he saw two officers dragging the raving history teacher out of the ruined classroom. The man's clothes were charred beyond recognition and he was sporting numerous second and third degree burns; he was also obviously in considerable amount of pain, as he looked like he'd been standing in the direct line of vulpix's Fire Blast Attack. Ash only had to listen to the man's diatribe for a heartbeat before he began to suspect that he was responsible for Harry's condition and the vulpix's injuries. Ash saw red. The man had potentially hurt _his_ son.

Stalking up to the officer in charge, Ash bit out with barely restrained rage, "If, after my son wakes, I find out that man is in any way responsible for my son's condition and the injuries to my son's vulpix, I _will_ be pressing charges."

The officer nodded as he took in the obviously wounded Pokémon and the unmoving boy in the dragon Pokémon's arms. Satisfied that he'd made his point, Ash quickly asked Charizard to take Harry to the medical team out front and to watch over him while Ash took the vulpix to the Pokémon Center. Ash trusted Charizard to watch over Harry just as much as Harry would, if he was awake, trust Ash to make sure the vulpix was taken care of. Once the injured Pokémon had been taken by Nurse Joy, Ash set about phoning his mother to let her know what had happened and that he needed her to stay with Harry until he was finished at the Center.

Delia arrived in time to see Harry being loaded into the back of an ambulance and she quickly joined him there after identifying herself as his grandmother. Gary Oak had come with her and he immediately set about tracking down as much information about what had happened as he could, as requested by his grandfather. Officer Jenny was currently interviewing the Principle of the school, listening to him describe the scene he had walked in on in the history room and what he had seen happen after that.

Charizard followed Harry and Delia to the hospital where he hovered around the building, searching the rooms through the windows until, after nearly an hour of looking, he found the room where Harry had been placed by the doctors. He then settled down in the nearest tree and took up vigil outside of the window. Pikachu had stayed with the still frantic ponyta as the young filly headed towards the hospital where the pair ended up taking up a vigil beneath the tree where Charizard was perched after being denied entrance into the hospital. The four and a half month old dratini joined them about fifteen minutes later; the water dragon having broken out of the house when he sensed Harry's distress through the growing bond he shared with the boy.

Ash absently paced in the lobby of the Pokémon Center as he waited for news on the vulpix's condition while his thoughts were firmly focused on his injured son. He kept seeing the vacant look in his son's eyes and remembering the last time he'd seen just such a look on the child. It had been the day the officers had come to take the boy to Goldenrod City, when Charizard had brought the young boy back to town after he'd tried running away. His heart ached for his son and everything he had gone through in the short time he'd been in this world. And he felt this latest development was his fault because he wasn't there to protect his son from yet another adult who attacked him. Just when he was on the verge of a complete breakdown, Nurse Joy walked into the room wheeling out a healthier looking vulpix on a gurney.

"I've done everything I could," Nurse Joy explained as vulpix whined and gave Ash a puppy-eyed look. "He's still in some pain; he had several cracked and bruised ribs and was suffering from a slight concussion on top of extreme fatigue but he should be fine in a few days."

"Thank goodness, I was worried about the little troublemaker," Ash replied as he rose to his feet and began running his fingers over one of vulpix's silky ears. "My son will be thankful as well; this little guy means the world to him. They behave more like twin brothers than trainer and Pokémon at times."

"Well, I'm glad I could help. Be sure he gets lots of rest over the next few days," Nurse Joy ordered as she shook her finger firmly at the now cowering vulpix. "And he's to stay off his feet as much as possible or he might strain those ribs before they can heal."

"Thanks, Nurse Joy, I'll be sure to keep a close eye on him."

And with that, Ash bid goodbye to Nurse Joy, picked up vulpix, exited the Pokémon Center, and headed straight for the hospital. When he arrived at the hospital, Ash took a moment to scan the grounds surrounding the building until he located Charizard and the other Pokémon gathered beside and below a single window. Knowing Charizard and Pikachu would keep an eye on the two younger Pokémon, Ash turned away from the quartet and headed towards the entrance to the hospital with the vulpix still cradled in his arms.

The receptionist tried to get Ash to leave vulpix outside or put him in a pokéball but he refused as he calmly explained that the Pokémon had been injured (and treated) and that the fire-fox belonged to his son. He then, in a hard tone, explained that the vulpix was the only one who might get through to his son if the six year old still remained in an unresponsive state. By the receptionist's reaction, her expression having gone from disapproval to sympathy by the time Ash finished speaking; it was obvious that none of the doctors had managed to get through to his son.

Once he was given the room number, Ash took off at a slow jog; carefully dodging around other visitors, patients, and doctors as he navigated the semi-crowded hallways. Upon entering Harry's room, he found his mother sitting beside Harry's bed talking with Gary and Officer Jenny.

"Oh, Ash!" Delia cried out as she caught sight of him entering the room. "Thank heavens you're here. The doctors don't know what's wrong with Harry. He has a few bruises and muscle strains but nothing that explains why he won't respond."

"I know, mom," Ash gently informed her as he lowered vulpix onto the bed beside Harry. "He was unresponsive when I found him. I don't think it was an injury though; this has happened before. Back when the police officers came to escort him to Goldenrod City, just after we first found him. Something happened in class today that mentally sent him fleeing away in either pain or fear. Don't worry, mom, he'll come out of it. He's stronger now than he was before and he knows he has the both of us to come back to."

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><p><strong>AN:<strong> _Before you say it… yes I know I seem to be giving Harry a hard time and that he seems to be having trouble not reacting to the terrible things that happen to him or even getting over his memories of the time spent with the Dursleys. However, keep in mind that most children would have difficulty coping with everything that Harry's has been through in short life and he is going to have times where he sinks back into old behaviors. Heck, even most adults I know have trouble getting certain incidents… He won't always be like that… but it will take him time to outgrow his insecurities and fears. _

_Anywho… hope you enjoyed the chapter and will post the next one sometime tomorrow as usual. – Jenn_

**AN 12-05-12:**_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._


	23. Repercussions on the Mend

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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><p><em><span>Chapter 23: Repercussions on the Mend<span>_

_Friday Afternoon, April 16, 2004  
>Viridian's Hospital, Viridian City<br>Kanto Region_

"While you're here, Mr. Ketchum, I'd like to get your statement regarding the incident that took place at the school," Officer Jenny interjected after a few moments.

"If you'll give me a few minutes with my son, first, I'll be happy to do so," Ash replied respectfully as he gave his mother's shoulder a squeeze before he moved around her so he could reach Harry's hand.

The officer nodded in understanding, and told him she would wait for him just outside the door. Gary took that as his cue to leave; the other young man offering to meet at Ash's house either later that night or later in the week to talk. Ash acknowledged his sometimes friend and oftentimes rival with a brief wave of a hand as he grasped Harry's hand with his other after setting the vulpix down on the bed beside his son. Leaning down, he brushed a kiss across Harry's forehead and whispered to the unresponsive boy to let him know that he was here.

He spent a good five minutes just running his fingers through his son's messy locks while telling him that he'd taken care of the vulpix's injuries and that the other Pokémon were just fine; if a little anxious. Knowing Officer Jenny was waiting for him, Ash promised Harry he'd be back soon. As he headed back out of the room, he caught site of the vulpix nuzzling Harry's hand and heard the small Pokémon whine pitifully. He paused for a brief moment at the door, looking back over his shoulder, and felt once more the bitter guilt of failure warring with his anger over the entire situation.

Once outside the room, Officer Jenny led Ash to a private room just down the hall and got out a pen and notepad before indicating that Ash should begin his story. Ash rubbed a weary hand across his face and started with dropping Harry off at school earlier that morning. He briefly explained the work he did for Professor Oak outside of town, the nervous antics of Harry's ponyta, chasing the fleeing Pokémon, and finally ending up at the school which had already been surrounded by city officials and other public servants.

He then spoke of searching the evacuated children for his son and not finding him; of how he followed his charizard around to the history room after hearing his son's vulpix howling and witnessed the explosion. He had trouble speaking about seeing the injured vulpix dragging Harry's body out of the burning classroom and discovering the bruises. The anger in his voice was clearly audible when he spoke of listening to the things that the history teacher had been ranting and raving as the scorched man was escorted out of the building.

When he finished, Officer Jenny asked him a few questions before thanking him and telling him she would contact him if she had any further questions and to make arrangements to hear Harry's side of the story once the boy woke. Ash absentmindedly gave her a vague reply in return as he immediately headed back to Harry's room where he found everything pretty much as it was before he left. The only real difference was that the vulpix had fallen asleep nestled up against Harry's left side.

Ash walked over to his mother and gave her a gentle hug before handing her his keys and letting her know she was more than welcome to stay at his house for the night. Delia almost refused, looking like she'd rather stay with Ash at the hospital but after a moment's consideration she nodded and gave him a kiss on the cheek before heading out the door. After she was gone, Ash headed over to the window and opened it just enough to tell the Pokémon to follow his mother home to get something to eat. Charizard was the only one that ignored the subtle order, though ponyta and dratini looked as if they'd wanted to as well; only Pikachu's persistence, coupled with a soft growl from Charizard, got the pair to listen to the gentle order.

Knowing that his mother would take care of the lonely and worried Pokémon, Ash claimed the chair she'd recently vacated and clasped Harry's left hand in both of his. All through the night he sat by Harry's side, though he was forced to evict the reporters several times as they attempted to enter the room to interview him and his son. In the back of his mind, he worried about the inevitable fall-out from the day's events but he was far more concerned with his son to allow the outside world to intrude upon his thoughts for long.

It was nearly two and a half days later that Harry finally showed signs of coming out of his waking coma. Ash had spent close to ninety-eight percent of that time beside Harry's bed and at the time had been dozing lightly due to getting so little sleep during the past few days. Delia had been in and out of the hospital during that time, bringing Ash food and updates on the Pokémon she was watching for both father and son. It was only at her insistence that Ash left Harry's side at all and that was just to go home, take a shower, and change clothes before returning. Ash just hadn't wanted to chance not being there in the event that Harry should snap out of his catatonic state (fearing the kid would panic if he woke up alone).

On the morning that Harry stirred, Ash was woken from his troubled sleep by vulpix, who'd not left Harry's side at all during the last couple of days, when the fire-fox Pokémon had begun licking his face and growling playfully. Ash hadn't even bothered opening his eyes at first; he'd just pushed the Pokémon away and told him to behave. Only the sound of Harry's voice calling his name uncertainly managed to bring him part way awake.

"Ash?"

"Harry? Sport?" Ash questioned through his sleep deprived mind as he opened his eyes and looked over at Harry's face. Harry had dark circles under his eyes, for his body hadn't really slept during the time he'd been in the catatonic state, but his eyes no longer looked so dull and lifeless; though they did look extremely tired. "Harry! Thank heavens; we've been so worried about you, Sport."

"I'm sorry, I didn't…"

"I know you didn't, Sport," Ash interrupted before his adopted son could finish the unnecessary apology. "You have nothing to apologize for. No one is blaming you for what happened." At this point Harry grumbled something about his history teacher and while Ash didn't quite catch exactly what it was he'd said; he did get the gist of it. "And he would be wrong, Harry. He had no business talking to you that way, nor did he have the right to physically harm you or your little vulpix. Just rest here a moment and try not to think about it, I need to let the nurse know you are awake."

Harry gave him a reluctant nod and wrapped his arms around the vulpix, who had draped himself half across Harry's chest and stomach, while Ash leaned out of the door and called for a nurse. Pretty soon there were nurses and doctors crowding into the room to examine him and the sudden appearance of the small crowd of strangers frightened him. Vulpix's soft growl soon made the health professionals aware of the fact and after apologizing, the majority of them left the room. Once Harry calmed down, the last doctor present checked all of his vital signs (slightly elevated due to the near panic attack), tested his reflexes (which were a little slow due to over-tiredness), and asked if he felt any lingering pain (just a little stiffness and soreness due to being confined to a bed for two days).

A few hours after waking, Harry was released and, like vulpix, ordered to get plenty of rest. Ash carried Harry home while vulpix sat curled up in Harry's arms; the small fire Pokémon was doing much better after resting for two days but still needed more time for his ribs to heal completely. They were ambushed right outside the hospital by reporters and again just outside of their house. Both times Ash calmly told them no comment as he pushed his way through the crowds.

Once inside the house, Ash let Harry down so he could walk on his own and watched the boy hobble over to the couch and sit down. The young ponyta and dratini practically pounced on Harry the moment his behind touched the cushions. Vulpix, as if sensing the intentions of the two other Pokémon, had leapt down out of Harry's arms and onto the floor just as the dratini's long body flopped down around Harry's shoulders from the back of the couch and the ponyta buried her head against Harry's stomach.

While Harry spent some quality time reassuring his worried Pokémon, Ash called Officer Jenny and let her know Harry was awake and that she could come over later that afternoon to question him; he wanted to give Harry some time to settle in, get a bite to eat, and maybe take a nap before being required to tell his side of the story. Delia, who'd been in the kitchen cooking breakfast to take over to Ash when they arrived home, came out to give Harry a big hug and kiss before returning to the kitchen to dish up the food she'd made.

After a light but filling brunch of scrambled eggs and toast (he hadn't felt up to eating the greasy bacon or pan fried potatoes), Harry curled up on the couch and drifted off to sleep while Ash headed upstairs to clean up and change clothes and Delia cleaned up the kitchen. The ponyta had curled up on the floor right in front of the couch and both the vulpix and dratini were draped over Harry's belly as he napped. When Ash came back downstairs, he quickly grabbed his camera and snapped a few pictures before he made a few more phone calls to Professor Oak, Misty, Brock, and the school.

When he spoke to the principle, the man apologized profusely and told Ash that he'd gathered all of Harry's assignments (both class work and homework) from the days he'd missed. Ash was somewhat shocked to learn that the principle had witnessed part of the incident (Ash hadn't yet had a chance to talk with Gary or look over the reports he'd been given by the police department) and the moment he ended that phone call he contacted the attorney that had helped him file the custody and adoption requests a year ago.

Later that afternoon, once Harry had woken up, Ash sat down with him and carefully explained that he would need to tell Officer Jenny and their attorney, Ramsey Carter, what had happened at school that day. Harry initially shied away from just the thought of facing another officer (much as he had in Sinnoh after the confrontation with Madeline) but reluctantly agreed to speak about what happened.

Mr. Carter arrived first, bringing with him several copies of the various reports that had been filed at the police station (he'd stopped there first), as well as a tape recorder so he could record Harry's (and later Ash's) story. Officer Jenny arrived not long after, bringing just her notepad. After introductions were made and refreshments were passed around, giving Harry a little time to relax around Officer Jenny, the conversation turned towards the incident from a few days earlier.

Harry, curled up protectively in the corner of the couch with the vulpix in his arms beside Ash, stuttered as he began his story. He started by saying that the history teacher, Mr. Vanern, always picked on him in class because he wasn't very good at history. How the teacher disliked him asking questions about the class material and always made mean remarks about his homework, quizzes, and other class assignments. Harry shyly explained that he always tried to ignore the mean things the man said to and about him but that day the teacher had called him (and here Harry broke down sobbing) 'boy'.

This puzzled both the attorney and the officer until Ash calmly explained that Harry had been verbally abused by his previous guardians and that they'd never called him by his name, always referring to him as 'boy' or 'freak' when addressing him. Ash also explained that Harry had told him about Mr. Vanern picking on him in class before and that he'd spoken to the principle just last month about the inappropriate behavior of the teacher and had hoped that it would taper off instead of getting worse.

When he'd finally calmed down some, Harry was coaxed into finishing his story. Hesitatingly, he picked up where he left off, telling those listening about how he'd yelled back at the teacher until the teacher reached out, grabbed his arm, and started shaking him. As he reached this part of his story, Harry started slipping back into the catatonic state he'd been in for the last two days and only Ash's quick intervention prevented him from entering the waking coma completely. At this point there was nothing else Harry remembered about the episode, his mind blocking out the knowledge of the fragment of lost time that had happened during the confrontation and everything that had happened after he'd first been picked up, and any further questions just drove him further in on himself.

Rather than risk another regression, Ash ended the interview right then and there and told Officer Jenny that if he learned anything new from his son, he'd call her. Officer Jenny thanked them both and left, while Mr. Carter prepared a second tape to get Ash's story on record. As Ash spoke, Harry curled up beside him and slowly drifted back to sleep; the stress of reliving the confrontation with his teacher having drained him of what little energy he'd gained during his morning nap.

Next, the two men went over the various reports – which until then Ash hadn't seen – and began putting together their case against the history teacher. Ash gave the attorney permission to access the medical files of both Harry and the vulpix and the two agreed to meet later in the week after the attorney had a chance to speak with some of the other witnesses; specifically the other children that had been present in Harry's class that day and the principle.

Supper that night was a silent affair as they sat around the table eating fried rice and vegetable stir-fry. Ash watched Harry like a hawk as they ate and couldn't help but notice that the boy barely touched his food. In fact, most of the meat and vegetables he'd been given were passed down to vulpix, while he just picked at the rice on his plate every few minutes, not really eating more than a bite or two of anything. The boy's lack of an appetite bothered Ash but he silently acknowledged the fact that it wasn't unexpected due to everything that had happened.

After supper, Harry was sent upstairs by Delia to take a warm bath. Ash followed him up so he could put away the abandoned equipment that Gary had retrieved for him sometime over the past couple of days. As he walked by the bathroom, he caught a glimpse of Harry standing in front of the mirror with his shirt off, staring at the bruises on his arms with a distant look on his face. He stopped walking and turned to face the partly opened door as if to walk in, only to hesitate as Harry turned to fill up the tub. Aching inside, not knowing exactly what Harry was thinking of right that minute or even how he was dealing with the entire situation, Ash squared his shoulders and knocked on the door.

He watched as Harry flinched and jumped up to face the door and Ash had to fight down the rage he felt inside at seeing his son so jumpy once again. Ignoring his own inner turmoil for the moment, Ash addressed his son softly, "You do know that what happened isn't your fault, don't you, Harry? He was wrong to treat you the way he did and there was no excuse for the things he said to you and about you. And while I can't promise that you'll never see other adults that behave like Mr. Vanern, I can promise that you will never have to sit through another class with that man again. Even if I have to pull you out of school here and take you back to Slateport."

Harry just looked up at Ash without replying, his eyes uncertain and distant as he shrugged one shoulder halfheartedly. Mentally sighing, Ash carefully reached out and ruffled Harry's hair, making sure his movements were steady and not too fast nor to slow. Thankfully, Harry didn't flinch or cower from the affectionate gesture, and Ash left him to his bath after a few minutes when it became apparent that Harry wasn't yet ready to discuss his feelings about what had happened.

Ash spent close to an hour sorting out his equipment, updating the older data collected, and catching up on his e-mail while listening to the sounds of soft splashing from down the hall. When he heard the sound of the water draining in the tub, he closed down his e-mail and turned off the computer for the evening. By the time he stepped out of his office, he found Harry standing in the middle of the hallway in his pajamas surrounded by his three Pokémon. Harry's arms were wrapped around the ponyta's neck with her head draped over his right shoulder, dratini was wrapped around his shoulders and waist with its head resting against the crook of his neck opposite the ponyta's, and vulpix was leaning against his left knee with its three tails wrapped around Harry's left leg.

Slowly, so as not to draw the attention of either the Pokémon or his son, Ash slipped his PokéNav out of his pocket and took a couple of pictures of the poignant scene. He thanked the stars that Harry had found three such caring friends that could help him in his time of need. The tranquil scene was shattered two minutes later by the sound of Delia calling up the stairs for both boys to come on down to the kitchen. Ash walked forward and scooped Harry up into his arms when it became apparent that the boy was still exhausted and carried his son down the staircase as the Pokémon followed.

In the kitchen, they found Delia placing large scoops of vanilla ice cream into three bowls that each had a slice of freshly baked apple cobbler (sugar free of course). The slices of cobbler must have still been hot, because the instant the ice cream touched the pie, it melted. On top of the melting ice cream and cobbler, she added a generous dollop of whipped cream, before looking up and imploring Ash and Harry to join her for dessert. In contrast to Harry's earlier absence of an appetite, the small boy eagerly, if somewhat shyly, dug into his favorite dessert the moment Ash set him down in the chair; which he only rarely got to eat because of the rather high sugar content of the ice cream. That simple gesture of giving Harry something he enjoyed far more reassuring than all of the words Ash had spoken earlier, for actions sometimes speak louder than words.

Over the next several days, Harry slowly bounced back to his old self around Delia and Ash, something that eased their minds greatly. Unfortunately, his recovery was not one hundred percent complete. Harry had just been learning to trust other adults prior to the incident with his history teacher and had made real progress in controlling the urge to cower or flinch when approached by an adult; now, however, that was no longer the case. He once again tensed up the moment he saw another adult, recoiling and drawing in on himself if an adult so much as looked in his direction or spoke to him. Other then the one afternoon he spent talking about the incident to Officer Jenny and Mr. Carter, he also refused to speak to any adults unless Ash was there to coax him into saying something. Even worse, he stopped speaking with his friends in Slateport city and his classmates around Viridian.

His school work didn't really suffer much but he no longer put in as much effort. In fact, he absolutely refused to go back to attending classes at the school. The principle was very understanding and accommodating though, for the man continued to send both class assignments and homework to their house so Harry didn't fall behind. The only work he wouldn't do in the beginning was the various history assignments and Ash didn't have the heart to make him.

On May seventeenth, the trial of Mr. Vanern went to court in Celadon City. The hearings lasted four days, as several of Harry's classmates that had been present that day and the principle were questioned on the witness stand. His other teachers were also questioned in regards to Harry's classroom behavior and class work prior to the incident. Ash took the stand as well, speaking of the ongoing difficulties Harry had experienced with Mr. Vanern and the measures he'd been taking to correct the problem. Nurse Joy's testimony covered the injuries that had been inflicted on vulpix, while several nurses and doctors from Viridian Hospital spoke of Harry's injuries and the catatonic state he'd been in upon his arrival at the hospital. Officer Jenny presented her reports and the photographs that had been taken of both the scene of the incident and of Harry's injuries.

Harry was spared from taking the stand himself as it was immediately apparent that forcing him to speak of the incident in front of so many strangers and the man who'd attacked him would be detrimental to his continued recovery. Instead, a written deposition had been filed as evidence as had a copy of the recording Mr. Carter had made when Harry had spoken of the incident when he'd been released from the hospital.

By the end of the week, after nearly an entire day of deliberations, the jury assigned to the case ruled in favor of the Ketchums and Mr. Vanern was found guilty on multiple accounts of verbal abuse and two accounts of physical assault. Mr. Vanern was then stripped of his teaching credentials, fined ten thousand dollars to pay for the damage done to the classroom, another twenty thousand dollars on top of that was awarded to Harry and the other students for compensation (seventy percent of the money awarded going to Harry since he was the only student directly assaulted), and he was sentenced to ten years in prison. He was also banned from holding any future jobs that required him to interact with children.

After the week of courtroom drama, the Ketchums returned to Viridian City so that Harry could finish out the school year. Though, since the boy still refused to actually attend classes, he usually ended up accompanying Ash on his research trips to the surrounding fields and forests while continuing to complete the assignments given to him by the principle. The only exception was when he was required to take the end of the year exams.

* * *

><p><strong>AN 12-05-12:<strong>_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._


	24. Start of Another Expedition

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><em><span>Chapter 24: Start of Another Expedition<span>_

_June 2004 through December 2004  
>Traveling: Kanto and Johto Regions<em>

On the last day of school, while his classmates were stuck in the classroom getting their report cards, Harry and Ash were packing their backpacks. Ash had made arrangements to rent out their cottage to one of Professor Oak's assistants, who would take over the research that Ash had been doing for the professor for the last six months. Ash, on the other hand, would be taking the research farther afield in that he'd be traveling from town to town documenting any local decline in the wild Pokémon populations and Harry would be traveling with him.

Delia, as usual, was unhappy about the rather spur of the moment travel plans that were being made but she knew the journey was more about trying to bring Harry out of his shell again than it was about doing research for Professor Oak. It would also get Harry and Ash away from the persistent reporters that kept following them around town pestering the boy about the attack and his vulpix now that the Pokémon's unusual coloring had been revealed.

They left that night under the cover of darkness in order to slip away unseen, heading north towards the Viridian Forest; intending on passing through the forest on their way to Pewter City's outer limits. A week later, just before they reached the city, they turned off the road and entered Diglett's Cave, a deep tunnel that wild digletts had dug that connected Pewter City to Vermilion City. Once in Vermilion City, the pair boarded the S.S. Aqua and set sail for Olivine City in Johto; where their journey would officially begin.

As they traveled, Ash would stop speak with various Pokémon Rangers and Researchers they came across about the wild Pokémon populations while Harry spent time gathering berries and making woven grass baskets. The ponyta, now nearly fully grown, was carrying several of the completed basket packs draped across her back as she trotted along behind him. The vulpix, who hadn't grown much during the previous year, also carried a small pack of his own that the fire Pokémon used to hold the small bits of dry wood that he gathered for their nightly campfires. The dratini, still very much the baby of the trio, hung around Harry's neck all day long and kept an eye out for wild Pokémon that tried to attack their group as they traveled through the taller grasses in search of the berry bushes.

In this way, they traveled through the lands of Johto, edging around the larger cities unless they needed to restock their supplies. The time away from the larger crowds gave Harry the freedom and space he needed to come to terms with what had happened with his former teacher. At one point, near the middle of summer, he even turned on his PokéNav for the first time in months and sent apologies out to all of his friends for ignoring them for so long. They were a bit angry with him but after a few weeks of near constant messages they eventually forgave him; especially when he finally broke down and gave them the full story about what happened (most of them already knowing some of what happened due to the highly publicized trial).

Harry and Ash celebrated their birthdays that year in the quiet town of New Bark with Professor Elm, one of Professor Oak's colleagues. It was the first time they'd spent any length of time inside of a city since they left Viridian, and while it was a touch awkward, it was a nice change from sleeping on the ground most nights. They spent close to two weeks in the sleepy little town as Ash and Professor Elm combined their data before passing the collective information on to Professor Oak.

From New Bark Town, they traveled north to Blackthorn City, a journey that took them nearly three weeks to traverse the rugged mountain slopes of route forty-five. Once in Blackthorn, Ash booked a room for two weeks at the local inn before hiring a boat to get across the small lake that separated the city from the Dragon's Den. This was a special side trip that Ash had planned specifically for Harry, as the Dragon's Den was one of the few well known places where dratini were often found in the wild.

Once they reached the other side of the lake, Ash helped Harry and his Pokémon out of the boat, and the pair of them entered the cave. Harry was immediately overawed by the inside of the cave and the underground lake that covered nearly the entire floor. It was the huge schools of dratini and dragonair that really caught his attention though. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of the blue and white legless water dragons swam through the dark waters of the cave; their long slender bodies reflecting the light of the torches that had been hung on the walls. As they watched the wild Pokémon swimming just a few feet beyond where they stood, Harry's dratini dropped down off his perch around Harry's shoulders and slipped into the water, quickly vanishing into one of the larger schools. It happened so fast that neither Ash nor Harry had time to stop the young dragon as it joined its cousins in the water.

"I can't see him any more!" Harry cried worriedly as he scooted closer to the lake's edge.

"He's just visiting with the wild dragons, I'm sure he'll turn up after a while," Ash reassured the distraught boy.

"I take it your son's young dragon joined the others in the lake?" A woman with blue-gray hair inquired as she stepped up beside them.

"He just…" Harry started to reply, only to trail off when he registered the stranger's presence.

"Clair? Is that you?" Ash asked after he took a good look at the woman next to him.

"Well if it isn't little Ash Ketchum," Clair, the Blackthorn Gym Leader exclaimed after getting a good look at Ash. "Well, not so little now but still rather short for a Pokémon trainer!"

"I guess I was a little on the short side back then," Ash replied as he shared a laugh with the fiery gym leader before introducing her to Harry. "Clair, I'd like you to meet my son, Harry. Harry, this is Clair, she's the Gym Leader for the Pokémon Gym here in Blackthorn or she was when I was last here."

"I'm still the Leader," Clair confirmed as she knelt down and offered her hand to Harry. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Harry. Your father was one of the toughest trainers I've ever had the pleasure of losing too. I do hope you'll be following in his footsteps in a few years. It will be a challenge to look forward to."

Harry just gave her a shy smile and edged closer to Ash as he turned his attention back to the lake in an effort to see if he could identify his dratini amongst all of the wild ones.

"So, Ash, what brings you and your son all the way to the Dragon's Den?"

"Harry was given an egg that hatched a dratini last Christmas and I thought he'd like to visit one of their natural habitats. We hadn't known his dratini would slip away though, otherwise we would have left it in our room for the trip."

"Oh, don't worry. All of the water dragons that visit here always return to their trainers," Clair assured them. "It's only natural for them to school with the wild dratini because most of the captured ones spend their time alone and in pokéballs. That's one of the reasons why we've cut back on the number of trainers allowed to catch the wild Pokémon in this lake; too many domestic dratini and dragonair are mixed in with the wild schools."

"I guess that makes sense," Ash stated as he gave Harry's shoulder a squeeze.

"In the mean time, I can give you two the official tour of the Den, if you'd like," Clair offered.

"That would be great!"

The three of them, plus the vulpix and Ash's pikachu, climbed into one of the boats that lined the edge of the lake and were soon paddling along the outer edge of the wide cavern. They were just passing one of the many basking ledges that surrounded the lake, this one full of about twenty large dragonair, when their boat abruptly tilted onto one side as one of the dratini crawled into the boat with them. Harry instinctively knew that this was his dratini and he flung himself onto the creature with a gleeful bark that rocked the boat even more.

They were saved from an untimely dunking of the entire boat by a swarm of older, and larger, dratini and dragonair that had been swimming directly underneath them. Ash and Clair both smiled at the antics of the boy while Ash snapped a few pictures to send back home to his mother. The rest of the tour was uneventful, as the two adults pointed out the various dragon trainers that spent hours training inside the cave with the many dratini and dragonair under the watchful eyes of Lance, the Dragon Master and Johto League Champion. They were just returning to the entrance point when the small group was treated to a rare sight; one of the wild dragonair rose up out of the water as it was engulfed in a bright light as it transformed into a dragonite.

Harry was both awed and intimidated by the transformation, especially seeing as how the new orange dragon was much larger than Ash's Charizard. The great dragon let out a loud roar that echoed through the cavern as it flapped its new wings for the first time. As they watched, the huge Pokémon lifted out of the water and soared up into the air, only to vanish into the darkness of the unseen roof high above. He stared up after the no longer visible dragon for several long minutes before letting his gaze fall on the small, six foot dratini draped across his lap.

After taking their leave of Clair, who'd invited them to visit the Gym the next day if they had time, they exited the Dragon's Den and made their way back across the lake to Blackthorn City. After picking up the ponyta from the small fenced courtyard beside the hotel, the young filly having stayed behind during the small outing as she'd had no interest in visiting the watery cave full of dragon Pokémon, the group had supper in a small family-run café. Shortly after eating, they returned to their room and turned in for a good night's rest.

The next day Ash took Harry to visit his second ever gym; the first one he visited being the gym in Slateport during their stay there the year before. While there, the two of them got to watch a handful of the gym trainers battling challengers that were hoping to face Clair in order to get their Rising Badge. Only one of the visiting trainers managed to win the opportunity though he failed to beat Clair's team of dragon Pokémon. Harry had been impressed with some of the powerful attacks that the various Pokémon displayed but disliked seeing the injuries that the Pokémon suffered during the course of the battles.

Lunch was eaten down on the slopes of route forty-five, where they spent the rest of the afternoon watching a group of wild gligar fighting over the fruits from one of the berry bushes growing there. After supper, they spent a few hours wandering through the less crowded streets of town window shopping. It was a great way to expose Harry to a minimal amount of strangers and make sure he was sufficiently tuckered out to go to sleep an hour earlier than usual, as they'd be getting an early start the next morning.

Ash had Harry up by ten till five the next morning, and dressed in extra layers with a small day-pack on his back by ten after. They were heading up to the Ice Path to do a little exploring in the frozen caves. Knowing the young water dragon Pokémon wouldn't care for the cold air of the Ice Path, they dropped the excited dratini off at the lake outside of the Dragon Den before hiking around to the entrance of the Ice Path. They explored the frigid cave leisurely, taking time to study the various ice formations that had grown in the cave over the last thousand or so years.

During their lunch, while they sat propped up around a few huge ice covered boulders, their small group was attacked by a wild delibird that stole part of Harry's lunch. The vulpix and ponyta chased down the foot tall bird and soon had it cornered not far from where they'd been eating. Harry, feeling bad at how scared the little Pokémon looked, offered it a large berry in exchange for his lunch back. The bird eagerly took the berry after dropping the bag that contained half a sandwich and a bag of chips, and greedily devoured the fruit in three bites. Harry giggled at the ice bird's antics, and, on a whim, offered it another berry.

The delibird accepted the second berry as readily as it had taken the first, though this time it tucked the offering away inside its long pouch-like tail and then stared up at Harry expectantly. Harry, knowing he had plenty of berries back at the hotel and could easily collect more later; gladly supplied the wild Pokémon with a third. This time, after the Pokémon had tucked the berry inside its tail, it handed Harry a small clear blue-green stone in return before it scampered away. The stone was so cold it felt like ice in his hands but didn't melt.

Once back at their small campsite, Harry gave the stone to Ash who said it looked more like a small piece of aquamarine than a bit of ice. He handed the small bit of possible gem stone back to Harry who promptly tucked it safely away in his backpack. Once they finished eating and clearing up their messes, they moved a little deeper into the cavern. Ash intended to take Harry to see a frozen waterfall and lake in one of the larger caverns before they left for the day, knowing his young son would appreciate the beauty of the sculpted ice. Unseen behind them, the wild delibird that had stolen Harry's lunch followed at a discreet distance.

Harry was suitably impressed with the giant ice flow that looked something like a tree, or more like a small forest, made entirely of ice or crystals. The formation was huge, covering nearly an entire wall with thick long spires of ice that angled inward towards the roof of the cavern. The light of their hand-held flashlights reflected off of the ice and made the entire structure glitter like diamonds. Ash took several photos of the sculpture both with and without Harry and his Pokémon standing in front of it. In one of the pictures, the wild delibird was unknowingly caught peering around one of the tall ice columns watching Harry intently.

Shortly after visiting the frozen water fall, they turned around and headed back towards the Ice Path entrance so they could enjoy a nice hot supper at one of the various restaurants in town. They'd barely stepped out of the waterfall room when they were attacked by a small family of wild swinub. Pikachu was quick to take action, using his Thunderbolt Attack to frighten the wild Pokémon away but it wasn't working very well. The little vulpix and the ponyta could have chased them off with a well placed Flamethrower or two but the intense heat would have destabilized the ice formations around them and possibly soaked them all in freezing water, or worse, created a cave in. And unfortunately there were far too many of the wild Pokémon for attacks like Quick Attack, Scratch, Stomp, and Bite to be very effective (thought not for lack of trying).

Salvation came in the form of the small delibird who pulled tiny little packages out of its tail and threw them at the swinubs. As the small items landed near the wild pig-like Pokémon, they exploded in sharp little bursts, kicking up small blasts of sharp ice chips that drove the swinub away from the group. The little delibird ran after them, apparently taunting the larger ice type Pokémon as it continued to toss the mini-bombs, as they fled down the hall. Unfortunately, one of the swinub took offense to the pink-and-white bird's antics, because it turned around and used a Take Down Attack to knock the smaller Pokémon into the wall of the tunnel.

The swinub was preparing to attack a second time when the ponyta, followed closely by Harry, galloped up to it and stomped on it, knocking it out completely. Worried about their unexpected savior, Harry knelt beside the dazed delibird and dug into his pack for one of the blue Oran berries that he carried with him everywhere. After asking Ash to slice the fruit into eight pieces, he carefully fed each slice to the injured delibird one piece at a time until the bird was feeling well enough to finish the fruit on its own.

Once up and moving, Harry gave the brave little bird a final berry, which it tucked into its tail quite happily. Harry smiled at the cute little ice bird and ruffled its head feathers affectionately before returning to Ash's side; for once not caring that it was a bird Pokémon since it looked and acted nothing like a spearow. As father and son continued on their way out of the frozen caves, the little delibird kept glancing between the disappearing humans and the tunnel where the pack of swinub had vanished. Five minutes later, the little pink-and-white bird was once again trailing Ash and Harry as they made their way out of the Ice Path.

The next morning, when Ash walked up to Harry's bed to wake him so they could spend a second day exploring the ice tunnels of the Ice Path, he found the small pink-and-white bird Pokémon curled up on Harry's pillow, half tangled in the kid's messy black hair. Apparently the little wild Pokémon decided to follow them all the way back to the hotel without them knowing, though Ash was certain that all three of the Pokémon that had gone exploring with them had been fully aware of their little feathered stalker. Shaking his head as he remembered similar incidents occurring to himself during the years he traveled from city to city hunting down Gym Badges, Ash turned back to his bed to grab his camera to take a few pictures of the new addition before waking Harry and his Pokémon.

During breakfast, the little delibird hid under one of the hotel beds, watching as Ash and Harry and their Pokémon ate fresh fruit and toast. Harry kept peeking around the chair he was sitting in to watch the suddenly shy ice bird, curious as to how it had gotten into the room. The seven-year-old not quite sure why the wild Pokémon had followed them back to the inn and Ash couldn't help but find Harry's obliviousness charming under the circumstances.

For the rest of that day, and the following day, the father-and-son duo explored the various caverns with most of their Pokémon in tow. This included the brave little delibird that didn't seem to want to be left behind. Harry continued to offer the friendly bird a berry every now and then, unknowingly strengthening the growing bond between them. The rest of their two week stay was split between watching the dragons inside of the Dragon's Den and exploring the various meadows on route forty-five. On their last day in Blackthorn town, Ash and Harry returned to the Dragon's Den one last time to allow dratini to swim with his cousins one final time before they packed up their belongings and checked out of the hotel.

While there, Ash introduced Harry to Lance during one of the Dragon Master's rare free moments and by extension Harry was introduced to all of Lance's dragon Pokémon including aerodactyl. Harry had been fascinated by the flying dinosaur-like Pokémon and actually bravely petted the Pokémon on the nose when it stepped closer to observe him in turn. He also admired the four dragonair that chittered constantly at his much smaller dratini as all five blue and white snake-like dragons basked on the small ledge behind the Dragon Master's house. He didn't much care for the scary looking gyarados but he didn't run away screaming from the giant water dragon. He also didn't run fleeing when treated to an up close encounter of Lance's dragonite though he didn't feel brave enough to pet the huge dragon. Harry was almost sad when Ash finally announced it was time for them to leave.

Harry didn't stay sad for very long though, the mischievous nature of the delibird, which had followed them out of town, brought a smile to his face each time the sneaky bird stole food from Ash's plate during meals. Between the vulpix's playful antics each morning and the delibird's sneaking, Harry soon forgot about missing the Dragon's Den, the wild dratini and dragonair, and Lance's amazing dragon Pokémon. Even the ponyta and the dratini got into the act on occasion, the four Pokémon happily drawing smiles and laughter from Harry with their silliness. And while Harry would have eventually gotten over his brief depression on his own eventually; his lingering sadness didn't stand a chance in the face of the love and adoration his four friends felt for him.

The rest of summer and all of fall was spent traveling around the rest of Johto, visiting various Pokémon habitats with the occasional battle thrown in. Harry, instead of being enrolled in different schools around the region, did his school work mostly online with his PokéNav, with the occasional printed worksheet that was mailed back to the principle of his school in Viridian. In a way, it meant that Harry was homeschooled, despite never staying in one place long, during their travels as opposed to having a formal education and he thrived on the challenge of keeping up with his former classmates while at the same time learning more about the world he now lived in as they traveled. The hands on history lessons slowly helping him forget about his bad experiences with Mr. Vanern.

For Christmas and Winter Break, the two of them returned to Kanto to spend the holidays with Delia and the Oaks in Pallet Town, stopping at their house in Viridian just long enough to make sure Oak's assistant had everything he needed and to drop of the latest statistical information on the wild Pokémon populations (as well as the various souvenirs that Harry had picked up during their travels). Christmas Eve was a boisterous affair with all of Ash's local friends joining them in Pallet Town for the day. Harry avoided most of the adults but didn't hide or flinch away from them like he would have at the beginning of their journey. The long months of traveling had helped him get over almost all of his fear of all adults, though he still refused to speak to most of them.

Christmas Day, by comparison, was a quiet affair with just the three Ketchums. Delia received a large photo album filled hundreds of photos of Ash, Harry, and the Pokémon from both her boys. She in turn got them each a new pack of underwear, warm winter jackets, and PokéNav battery upgrades. Harry also received, from Ash, two notebook-sized sketch books, a brand new box of crayons (with forty-eight different colors), a box of colored pencils, and a drawing kit with special graphite pencils, gum erasers, and a metal pencil sharpener. To go with his new art kit, Professor Oak and Gary gave Harry a wooden briefcase and a box of pastels. The art supplies were unquestionably Harry's favorite gift that year.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>_Lance's inclusion in this chapter is dedicated to cross-over-lover2 as a thank you for all of the omake ideas given and because adding that section in helped smooth over a bit of a hole I had in the plot… Any omakes written for this story will either be posted as a separate story or posted after the last chapter (depending on when I find the time to write a few of them – which won't be until after I finish the sequel or I am at least close to finishing it). And yes, I've also taken some of the suggestions from a couple of reviews to use as omakes too and full credit for the ideas will be given once the omake is written and posted. _

_I'd also like to say thank you so much, everyone for the response I've had to this story. ~ Jenn_

**08-08-11:**_ Edited chapter to add in the fate of the delibird since he'd fallen into a plot hole and fix a minor inconsistency._

**12-05-12:**_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._


	25. How Time Flies

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><em><span>Chapter 25: How Time Flies<span>_

_January 2005 through July 2011  
>Traveling: Hoenn, Sinnoh, Kanto, Johto,<br>and the Island Regions_

Two days after New Years, they were on the move again, this time they were headed back to Hoenn, where they'd be drifting from town to town taking in all the various sites and performing yet another census on the wild Pokémon populations. They spent a full month in Slateport during the late spring so Harry could visit his friends for a little while before they headed back out again before the weather got too hot. While they were trekking through the desert on route one-eleven, Harry befriended his fifth Pokémon, a feisty trapinch that Harry and Ash had unburied and pulled out from a two-day old rock fall near the desert ruins.

Since they were so far from town, and had no way to get the wounded Pokémon to a Pokémon Center, Ash and Harry had kept the grumpy ant Pokémon with them and treated his wounds themselves. After two weeks of being hand fed a selection of fresh berries, the trapinch, like the delibird from the Ice Path, simply followed them instead of returning to the desert sands. Oddly enough, the five Pokémon got along really well for the most part, even though ground type Pokémon usually couldn't stand fire or ice types and vice versa.

There'd been no progress with the development of a roomier pokéball, so all five continued to simply follow where Harry led, much to Ash's amusement and other trainers' annoyance. In fact, when other trainers tried to inform Harry that Pokémon belonged inside pokéballs and tried to challenge the young boy when he disagreed, Harry would simply look up at them with his expressive green eyes and ask, "If Pokémon were meant to live inside tiny little balls, why are they born or hatched in wide open spaces in the wild?" or "If living inside a pokéball is so great, why don't trainers live in them too?". Oddly enough, none of the trainers they'd met so far had an answer to either question.

Christmas and New Years were once again spent in Pallet Town, before they took off yet again, this time back to Sinnoh to begin another long circuit of the habitats. There were no new Pokémon picked up this time but Harry finally named the oldest three of the five that he had befriended.

The vulpix, ever the mischievous one, earned the name Trickster because he still liked to wreak havoc when breaking down camp most mornings. The graceful ponyta, who'd finally stopped growing at an impressive ten hands, two inches, or three and a half feet, at the withers, was aptly named Dancer because she never seemed to 'just' walk anywhere once she stopped looking like a gangly foal. The powerful fire horse was also the volunteer pack horse, as she continued to carry a double pack with a little more than half of their food supplies and all of Ash's research equipment, though the packs were now made from sturdy and supple leather rather than woven grass baskets.

The final Pokémon to have earned his name was the young dratini that Harry had hatched out two years earlier. The young water dragon, like the mischievous and playful Trickster, loved attention and he found he got the most attention when he soaked everyone within range with his Water Gun Attack. So, after the third or forth time he'd drenched Harry during their latest travels, he was dubbed Splash.

At the request of Delia, this year they spent the last week of July and the first week of August in Pallet town for their combined birthdays before finishing their tour of Sinnoh. Christmas, on the other hand, was spent up on the top of Mt. Coronet visiting with Hypno, the psychic Pokémon that had helped heal Harry three years earlier. It was at this time that it became apparent that Harry wasn't growing naturally. Sure, he wasn't as short or as scrawny as he was when he first arrived but neither did he look like the nine year old that he was.

Hypno, after pointing this out, stated that it was natural due to the time differences between their two worlds. In Harry's original world, he would have only aged two years instead of the four that he'd lived here. There were other factors involved too, such as the extreme malnutrition that Harry had experienced during the years he spent with the Dursleys. There were hints that his magic was somehow involved in the slower growth rate but the why or how of it wasn't known; though Hypno speculated that it might be because wizards in Harry's world lived longer lives. Ash had asked the aged psychic Pokémon how he knew so much about Harry's original world but the venerable old Pokémon had just smiled mysteriously before walking away without answering.

Their final month in Sinnoh was spent down south in the Great Marshes of Pastoria City and the nearby beaches below Lake Valor. This was the first break that Ash took from his research since the two weeks they'd spent with Delia (the time spent with Hypno not counting as Ash had spent some of his time monitoring the wild Pokémon that lived in the mountains around Hypno's cave). Father and son spent the time just hanging out on the sandy beaches or trekking through the marshes in hopes of seeing some of various rare Pokémon that didn't appear anywhere else in Sinnoh or in any of the other regions. When their mini-vacation was over, they flew back to Pallet Town to spend another week with Delia before taking a boat to Cinnabar Island.

This kicked off the forth leg of Ash's research related journeys, as from Cinnabar they caught one of the ferries to the Sevii Islands, where they spent the rest of the year island-hopping between the seven islands. While on Four Island, Harry received his first ever swimming lessons in addition to snorkeling and scuba diving lessons. He loved every minute of it too, as he found the underwater habitats of the Pokémon fascinating. The only thing he loved better than visiting the worlds under water was drawing detailed sketches of the animals, plants, and seascapes that he visited beneath the water.

Art was the one constant, aside from his new family and Pokémon, in Harry's new life. In the two years since he'd been gifted his art supplies, he'd drawn every single wild Pokémon he'd ever encountered (except the flock of spearows that had attacked him), a hundred different Pokémon habitats, and hundreds of lifelike sketches of his five Pokémon in various activities. He'd even sketched Ash with Pikachu or Charizard on occasion, as well as a scant handful of Pokémon battles that Ash had participated in with other trainers. Once a month, these sketches and drawings would be sent back to Pallet Town where Delia would frame her favorites and place the rest into dated portfolios to preserve and protect them.

When viewing the sketches in chronological order, it was easy to see how Harry's skill improved over the years with the most recent drawings taking on a life of their own; more than a few of the sketches giving one the impression that the subjects in the drawings could burst into motion any second. Ash secretly believed that it was Harry's magic breathing a semblance of life into his art work and he wasn't too far off the mark (though he wouldn't learn how accurate that belief was until many years down the road).

Harry's fifth Christmas was the first holiday spent in Viridian City in three years as the two of them returned for a short two month break from traveling after they came back from their island tour. The reason for this was the untimely death of the venerable Professor Oak; the lively and much beloved Pokémon Expert passing quietly away in his sleep. The world mourned the passing of Professor Samuel Oak while at the same time celebrating the life he'd lived and all of the accomplishments he'd achieved throughout his lifetime. None felt the loss of the old man more than his family, closest friends, and long time associates.

Gary Oak had originally intended to take over all of Samuel Oak's research projects during the coming summer when Professor Oak had intended to announce his retirement but after his grandfather's death he couldn't bring himself to follow in the older man's footsteps – feeling in his heart that he was unworthy to keep the man's legacy alive. Instead he threw himself into coordinating the yearly Pokémon League Challenges at the Indigo Plateau and maintaining his title as the Kanto League Champion. So it was, with Gary's blessing, Professor Oak's research was passed onto Ash who'd been Professor Oak's protégé during the last handful of years while the two of them would hold joint ownership of the professor's numerous facilities spread throughout their world.

After three weeks of mourning, Ash jumped into the research with both feet with the intent of making his friend and mentor proud. After all, Professor Oak had been a father figure for Ash since he started his Pokémon journey nearly eighteen years earlier. The first order of business was to send Harry back to public school. Harry balked for all of two hours when the decision had first been announced but eventually gave in with very little fuss knowing that Ash needed time to sort out all of Professor Oak's old projects. This meant that Delia moved into the house in Viridian City with Harry while Ash spent eighty percent of his time jumping between Pallet Town and Golden Rod City going over the late Professor Oak's various projects and covering the radio show.

Thankfully, Harry's transition back into formal education went fairly smoothly. The new history teacher, who'd taken over for Mr. Vanern, was a pleasant woman by the name of Miss Sally Rose. Miss Rose was just two years younger than Ash and taught history with a hands-on approach that all of the children loved. And, while Harry still didn't much care for the subject, he did find it far easier to keep a passing grade than he had prior to the incident with the previous teacher.

Harry also gained national recognition for his life-like sketches shortly after returning to public school; his most recent drawing, done as an assignment for his art class, showed a red-faced Ash playing tug-o-war with the mischievous vulpix using Ash's brand new PokéDex. The sketch, titled Trickster in Trouble, earned the grand prize at the school art fair and was selected to be placed on temporary display at the new art museum in Saffron City. The art teacher of Viridian City School and the curator of the museum had both tried to convince Harry to sell some of his other sketches but Harry brushed them off politely saying that all of his drawings were far too personal to sell.

At the end of the school year, Harry and his classmates were given their Primary Completion Certificates, which allowed them to leave school in order to join the Pokémon League. Harry was the only one out of his year group that declined joining the battle circuit as he fully intended to travel with Ash while his adopted father traveled around Kanto and Johto making contact with Professor Oak's old colleagues.

Their first stop on their latest expedition was Goldenrod City, where Ash officially handed Professor Oak's radio talk show over to Professor Elm of New Bark Town. The next stop was back in Saffron City, where they met with the head of the Silph Company and several of the researchers on staff to discuss upgrades to the PokéDex, the latest pokéball technology, and other various research equipment that Professor Oak had commissioned from the high-tech company shortly before his death. The rest of their destinations were remote research facilities where some of Professor Oak's aides had been stationed working on one project or another.

While Ash was handling business and collecting data, Harry spent time outdoors gathering berries, sketching scenery, and playing with his Pokémon. He was frequently challenged to battles by trainers looking to level up their own Pokémon but he stubbornly refused all battles except when faced with a wild Pokémon attack. This soon gained him a reputation of being a poor trainer with weak Pokémon but he didn't care what others said about him or his Pokémon because he was happy with who he was now and he knew his Pokémon were strong; he didn't have to prove it to any one else.

His reputation would make an abrupt turn around during their stay in Ecruteak City though, when he stumbled across a gang of bullies picking on a little girl and a litter of newborn eevee around behind the Burned Tower where Ash was working with the famed Legendary Pokémon researcher, Eusine.

Harry, with his Pokémon in tow, had curiously followed a tiny darting shadow around the corner of the tower where he found five teenagers standing over a much younger girl, who was in turn protectively standing over what appeared to be nine tiny brown balls of fur. Off to one side was a larger bundle of brown fur that lay unnaturally still. The tension-filled tableau instantly reminded Harry vividly of the days when Dudley and his friends used to corner him in his aunt's garden and beat him black and blue just because they could. Anger, that he'd never been allowed to show before becoming part of Ash's family, rushed through him as he stepped forward and ordered the older boys to leave the girl alone.

"Well, well, well, boys," the middle boy, who happened to be the biggest boy, purred as he turned to face Harry. "The Cowardly Midget has arrived to save his little girlfriend and the wild rodents."

"Why don't you go run back to daddy," the shortest boy on the left spat out as he too turned to face Harry.

"You know, boys," the first boy said thoughtfully. "I don't think a wimp like this kid deserves to have such rare Pokémon. After we bag the eevee kits, we should relieve him of them so they can be trained by real trainers."

"You're not trainers!" Harry yelled. "You're nothing but a bunch of bullies!"

"Didja hear tha', boss?" another of the boys declared. "He called us bullies!"

"It's your funeral, Coward," the first boy crowed as all five of the boys stepped towards Harry and his Pokémon.

"You will leave, now, or I will make you regret it," Harry growled out as he firmly stood his ground. There was nothing he hated more than bullies, regardless of how big or how old they were.

"I'm shaking in my boots!" one of the boys cried as he pulled out a trio of pokéballs.

"Let's just see who does the regretting," the first boy, who was obviously the leader of the gang, taunted as he too pulled out three pokéballs.

As one, all five teens called out their Pokémon. There were twelve total between the bullies; five raticates, a murkrow, two houndours, a pidgey, and three spearow. Harry unconsciously flinched at the sight of the spearow but stood his ground as he growled deep in his throat. Beside him, Trickster growled in response while Dancer pawed the ground angrily and pranced eagerly in place in turns. Splash unwound himself from around Harry's waist (where he'd been sleeping until the start of the confrontation), dropped down to the ground in front of Harry, and reared up until his six and a half foot-long body stood nearly even with the shortest of the bullies. Both the trapinch and the delibird climbed out from inside of the packs on Dancer's back to join the battle as well.

The odds were well over two against one; a total of seventeen against six. Harry didn't care about the odds being stacked against him, though; he absolutely refused to stand back and allow the bigger and older boys to pick on the young girl. Unfortunately for the five bullies, they had unknowingly bitten off far more than they could chew as after a short (but intense) twenty-five minute battle the five of them found themselves pinned to the outer wall of the Burned Tower, five feet off the ground with their various Pokémon sprawled below them in dead faints.

The older boys' clothes were well charred from Dancer and Trickster's dual Flamethrower Attacks and all of them were soaked to the bone from Splash's Surf Attack. The trapinch, of course, was responsible for the spikes that held the boys securely in place combined with a two inch layer of ice that had been spread on the wall beneath them courtesy of the delibird. More than one of the older boys also sported a black eye or broken nose courtesy of Harry who'd fiercely and unhesitatingly defended his Pokémon from being attacked from behind by the teens. Harry's magic had also flared during the battle several times as it levitated the five bullies off their feet, threw them back up against the wall they were eventually pinned to, and knocked the five boys unconscious at the end of the battle.

Right after the battle, Harry hurried forward to check on the Pokémon that the girl, who'd run for help the moment the bullies were distracted, had been protecting. The first thing he noticed was that the smaller bundles were extremely young kits that hadn't even opened their eyes yet, obviously born sometime in the last week. The second thing he discovered was that the mother eevee (the larger brown bundle off to one side) had been killed by the bullies sometime before he'd arrived.

Tears of helpless rage poured down Harry's cheeks as he gently gathered the mother Pokémon in his arms; his magic spiraling wildly out-of-control as a wave of pure fury filled Harry the moment he realized the bullies had taken the kits' mother from them. The five older teen would have surely obliterated at this point if not for the timely arrival of Officer Jenny and his father.

Ash had taken one look at Harry and knew that whatever had happened was bad. His son was crying, something he hadn't done much of during the last few years, and his eyes were burning with emerald fire as he cradled an unmoving Pokémon in his arms. He could feel the tingle of Harry's magic dancing in the air, too, and did the first thing he could think of to contain the boy's growing rage. He stepped up to him, wrapped his arms around his small son, and held him tightly while Officer Jenny called for backup to deal with the five bullies.

Four hours later, Harry was gently transferring the tiny eevee kits into Dancer's pack, along with some of the rags that had served as the kits' nest. They'd learned, from the little girl Harry had defended, that the eevee mother had been a wild Pokémon that turned up in town a few weeks earlier before giving birth to her litter of nine. The little girl, whose name was Jessica, had discovered the wild Pokémon just a few days earlier, and had been bringing the skittish mother scraps of food two and three times a day, hoping to make friends with her. The five bullies had followed her that afternoon and attempted to capture the mother and her babies. The mother fought to the death, though, to protect her children just seconds before Harry walked around the corner; her ghost the small shadow that had led Harry to the scene (though he didn't know that).

All five of the teens were local boys that were known to cause trouble around the town. They'd been arrested numerous times over the last year or two for vandalism, theft, and other criminal behavior. Their hand in the mother eevee's death would land them in a Juvenile Detention Center for four years before being transferred to one of the local penitentiary for another six. They would also be banned from ever owning or raising another Pokémon while the ones they'd fought with that afternoon had been confiscated and placed in rehabilitation centers so they could be adopted out once they were given a clean bill of health and retrained to not be overly aggressive.

Harry, once he'd learned the eevee were wild and knowing they'd just been orphaned, immediately claimed the entire litter (with Officer Jenny's blessing) so he could raise them; his own experiences as an orphan during his early years prompting him to protect the tiny kits. Jessica was sad to see the tiny kits being claimed but Harry secretly promised her that he'd bring her at least a pair of them back once they were old enough to fend for themselves. Jessica's father thanked Harry profusely for stepping in and protecting his daughter; the man had been impressed that Harry and his five virtually untrained Pokémon had fought and won against nearly three-to-one odds. Harry modestly shrugged off the praise, simply telling everyone that he just didn't like bullies.

The two of them ended up staying in Ecruteak an extra two weeks for the sake of the young eevee kits, staying with Jessica and her family (at their insistence). Jessica helped Harry feed the tiny kits honeyed Moomoo milk and berry juice every couple of hours. The young girl, who wasn't more than seven years old, ended up growing attached to two of the four female kits in the litter during those two weeks, and Harry, knowing he'd have his hands full with the other seven, gladly left those two in her (and her parent's) care the day they left.

Her parents had been impressed with the way Harry interacted with their young daughter and his generosity in allowing Jessica to keep two of the eevee without any hesitation and promptly extended an open invitation to visit any time he wanted. They also discreetly passed Ash a five thousand dollar check intended for Harry; the majority of which had actually been raised by all the residents of Ecruteak as a thank-you gift for ridding the town of the troublesome gang.

Word of Harry's part in taking down the infamous gang of Ecruteak spread rapidly throughout Johto and Kanto over the next few weeks while the pair continued their travels. Those who doubted the tale flocked to the famous former home of the Legendary Pokémon, where the scene of the unforgettable battle had been preserved by Officer Jenny as a monument to the courage of one small boy (and his Pokémon) who stood up for what he believed in. Clearly visible on the stone wall of the Burned Tower were two dozen thick spikes and five white outlines depicting where each of the bullies had been pinned to the wall. Also nearby was a three foot tall bronze statue of an eevee that marked the final resting place of the mother eevee with a small plaque describing the entire incident.

Over the next two years, the only trainers that attempted to challenge Harry and his Pokémon were those that were desperate to prove themselves (the less experienced ones being far too leery of challenging him). Harry still turned each and every one of them away. When on several occasions he was asked why he refused to battle, Harry simply stated he didn't think it fair to force Pokémon to battle against each other constantly. If a trainer then foolishly brought up the 'Bully Battle', as it had been named by the townsfolk of Ecruteak, Harry would simply say that he hadn't commanded his friends to fight that battle for him; they had chosen to help him protect the young girl and the helpless Pokémon from the bullies.

On Harry's twelfth birthday, he was presented with his first evolution stones; a set of twenty different stones (two of each kind) that were known to trigger the evolution of certain Pokémon. Upon seeing the stones, the seven eevee (which had all remained with Harry, the group of them having bonded with him while he was raising them) grew excited. If not for Harry's quick reflexes, the near two-year-old kits would have scattered the entire box of stones all over the floor. The only other Pokémon of his to show any interest in the stones was Trickster but he didn't seem in any hurry to consume one of them – not like a couple of the eevee. Harry also received his first set of water colors and brushes for his birthday that year, along with several ten-by-fourteen-inch canvases and a refill kit of pencils, pastels, and sketch pads for his art kit.

In an abrupt change of pace, Ash and Harry spent the two years after his twelfth birthday sticking close to Viridian City much to Delia's delight. Ash used the break from constant traveling to write a book detailing his findings over the years while Harry took a few advanced courses at the school and spent his free time drawing and taking care of his Pokémon. Whenever they could make the time, the two of them still spent the odd weekend or week long holiday traveling around the world to visit various national monuments or spend time with the friends they had made in the other regions.

Harry's fourteenth birthday marked the start of his ninth year in the World of Pokémon, his eighth as Ash's adopted son; meaning he only had three more years remaining in this world. Happy with the new life he'd made with his father, Harry sometimes worried about having to go back to his old world though he never voiced his concerns to his father. His two biggest fears were that his father would hate him for having to leave and that his Pokémon friends would have to be left behind. He tried not to think about what the future held though; doing his best to live in the here-and-now.

Shortly after Harry's most recent birthday, the two of them began making preparations for the start of yet another series of world-wide research trips. Both Ash and Harry were looking forward to spending ninety percent of their time on the road once more after spending two years practically deskbound. Harry was especially looking forward to the journey's start as this would be the first year he would be allowed to actively help Ash with the field research his father would be undertaking.

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><p><strong>AN:<strong> _Harry's first three Pokémon finally have names! And yes, all of them will eventually end up with names. The reason it took Harry so long to name the vulpix, ponyta, and dratini and the others haven't been given one yet are because names are very important to him. And while it seems like that would mean that he would rush into finding his friends a name; in my mind it actually means that Harry would instead search for the perfect name to match each Pokémon individually. In some cases, this might mean they won't earn their names until they evolve or perform some special feat. Think of it as a right of passage rather than a simple name because a name is that special in Harry's mind. _

_And yes, I succumbed to the Pokémon/HP cliché of giving Harry one or more eevee (in this case more) and I'm certain most of you can guess what they'll end up as. In my defense I absolutely love eevee and all of the eevee evolutions; they are my absolute favorite Pokémon. At least I avoided having him bond to a legendary Pokémon, some new, previously undiscovered (and extremely bizarre) Pokémon, or some uber-powerful or super intelligent Pokémon. I also tried to make the way he ended up with the Pokémon different; though I know I failed at that in a way since one was his adopted brother (Trickster), one he hatched (Splash), eight he adopted after they lost their mother (the eevee & Dancer), and the final two sorta found him (delibird and trapinch). I contemplated having him battle one to capture one but figured it would be against everything I had Harry standing against up to this point. _

_Pokéballs; as you saw early in this chapter, Harry still refuses to house his Pokémon inside of pokéballs. That will be a constant with him because of his former experiences of being locked in his cupboard (hence the reason for the questions he snapped at those who tried to convince him that all Pokémon belong inside pokéballs). Now, that's not to say that Harry won't consider using a pokéball for traveling IF they can invent one that is larger on the inside or maybe even contains a piece of that Pokémon's habitat inside of it. (I'm sure some of you will pick up on exactly what I'm hinting at there for the future… sorry if I spoiled anything for anyone.)_

_Finally, I'd like to thank Mary Sue Lover for taking the time to point out a few of the mistakes I made in the last couple of chapters as well as two or three plot holes that I missed. I've fixed the misplaced word errors and the one contradiction already but will have to address the plot holes when I can make some time since it will take a bit more effort than just correcting a word here or there and deleting a word or two. _

_I'll quit cluttering up this chapter now by saying thank you to everyone who reviewed and to those two hundred plus people who have placed this story on their favorites/alert lists in addition to the fifteen individuals that have added this story to their communities. – Jenn_

**AN 12-05-12:**_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._


	26. Ash's Birthday Gift

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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><p><em><span>Chapter 26: Ash's Birthday Gift<span>_

_Friday Morning, August 05, 2011  
>Ketchum Cottage, Viridian City<br>Kanto Region_

Ash stood staring out into the predawn darkness through the window, watching Harry trying to wade through the small pack of eevee in order to reach their feeding dishes beside Dancer's open sided stall (that he and Harry had built a few years earlier) in the back yard of their Viridian home. The rather small fox-cats, most of which were less than twelve inches high at the shoulder, were all easily excitable and tended to travel together like a school of fish or maybe a flock of birds since it seemed like they flew at times. Feeding time for the rambunctious creatures was always a chore, though Ash secretly thought that Harry loved being buried under their combined weight, since the young teen never chased them off unless he had other things he had to do.

Harry's delibird, who he'd named Dave for some odd reason, was once again stalking the eevee pack, looking for a chance to steal a bit of their food. The tiny thief wasn't much bigger than the evolutionary fox-cats and was out numbered seven to one but that didn't prevent the sneaky bird from stealing their food every chance he got. As he watched, the sneak-thief Dave crept along the far edge of the fence, keeping to the shadows as he headed right for the seven feeding dishes that Harry was just pouring sliced berries and homemade poffins into.

Harry must have either seen the pink and white bird, or known he would show up, because the moment Dave tried to steal a poffin from the last bowl, Harry scooped him up out of the way as the seven hungry eevees dove for their feeding dishes. Dave squawked indignantly at being caught but soon happily settled down on Harry's shoulder as the boy gave the ice bird a couple of extra poffins out of the bag he carried.

Turning away from the yard, where Harry was now piling fresh cut grasses and sliced berries in Dancer's feeding trough, Ash sighed as he recalled that today was his twenty-ninth birthday. He loved his life and he loved having Harry as a part of his family but knowing he only had three more years to spend with his son made him wish he could have another forty three instead. He knew Harry worried about the day he had to go back to his world; he'd seen it in his son's eyes as he sometimes stopped what he was doing and stared off in the direction of Berry Meadow.

"I wish I could go with him," Ash murmured aloud as he finished washing the breakfast dishes and gave them a rinse.

He'd just finished drying the last plate when Harry stepped into the house, laughing as he lifted the still hungry Dave down off his shoulder and gave the bird a couple of berry slices. Trickster trotted into the room at that point and tackled Harry from behind, giving Harry a couple of sloppy kisses before bounding over him and out the door in search of his food bowl. Laughing again, Harry picked himself up off the floor and stepped over to the sink to wash his hands as he greeted his father.

"Good morning, Ash."

"Good morning, Sport," Ash replied as he ruffled the young teen's hair. "What did you have planned for the day?"

"I thought we were ordered to be in Pallet Town at exactly two o'clock this afternoon?"

"Yes, grandma wants us there for the afternoon because she has a big dinner planned," Ash agreed. "What I meant was; what were you planning on doing between now and when we have to leave?"

"Oh, I don't know," Harry replied with a nonchalant shrug as he pulled the bottle of grapefruit juice out of the refrigerator and poured himself a glass. "I hadn't really given much thought about it. I mean, it's not even five thirty yet."

"Moltres forbid you be required to make a decision before sunrise, huh?"

"Just taking after you, Old Man," Harry quipped as he put his now empty glass in the sink and darted out of the kitchen before Ash could retaliate.

"Insolent teenager," Ash muttered under his breath as he shook his head and rinsed out Harry's glass even as he grinned at the sound of Harry's laughter echoing through the house.

Ash was sitting at his computer an hour later, going over the latest data on wild Pokémon numbers from Hoenn, when Harry knocked on his office door. The teen was hovering nervously just outside the doorway with his hands behind his back, his hair still wet from his recent shower. Looking up, Ash felt a pang of sadness rush through him as he noted how much Harry had grown over the last nine years; though he was still far shorter and far skinnier than other children his age.

"Come in, Harry," Ash called as he glanced back to his monitor to give himself a moment to get his emotions under control. "You know you're allowed in my office any time."

"I know, Ash, it's just… I wanted…" Harry stuttered uncertainly as he took only a single step into the room. "That is… I just…"

Ash frowned at Harry's excessive show of nerves, something he hadn't seen in many years; not since before his son's ninth birthday, at any rate. He could now see that Harry was holding a large, brightly-wrapped present in his hands that he kept passing from hand to hand as he stared at the floor. "Harry?"

"I… um… I… uh," Harry continued to stammer, until he took a deep breath stepped up to the desk and thrust the package into Ash's hands as he blurted out, "I made this for you, Ash. Happy birthday… dad…"

And then he was gone, leaving behind a shell-shocked and speechless Ash sitting at his computer, staring at the gaily wrapped gift in his hands. Ash didn't know if he should set the present aside and go after his son or if he should give Harry a few minutes to himself first. In all the years since he'd adopted the small lost child, Harry had never called him anything but sir or Ash and Ash hadn't really minded or insisted on him doing any differently. That the boy chose to assign him the title of 'dad' and not the less-familiar 'father' or the less than fondly remembered 'uncle' was completely unexpected and emotionally uplifting.

Swallowing past the lump that had formed in his throat, Ash ran a finger under the tape that held an envelope securely to the front of his gift; his eyes focused on the word 'Dad' that was scrawled across the front. Inside, he found a hand drawn card with a sketch of a charizard, a pikachu, and a venusaur (all holding balloons and wearing party hats) on the front and a simple inscription inside;

_Happy Birthday, Dad.  
>Thank you for everything.<br>I love you, Harry._

Ash smiled as he blinked away the moisture that was building in his eyes as he tenderly tucked the card back into the envelope and set it off to the side on his desk as he ran his hands over the present. After a few minutes, he grudgingly undid the tape on the bottom of the gift, reluctant to tear the bright paper because it represented the new dimension of the relationship between him and his son. And yes, he knew that things would change from this point forward with Harry. Not because they were drifting apart like most teens do from their parents but because they were growing closer, as for the first time in eight years, Harry openly offered to let Ash into his heart. And it humbled Ash even as it warmed him.

Inside the box he unwrapped, Ash found three original paintings that Harry had created (without his knowledge) encased in sturdy oak frames. All three were done in vibrant acrylic paints and showed exquisite details; they were some of the best work Harry had ever done. Ash's heart stuck in his throat as he stared at the first painting; one of himself with Pikachu riding on his shoulder as they walked through a field of tall grass that came up to Ash's hips. The clouds in the sky gave promise of a spring storm as the grasses looked to dance in an unseen wind and Ash could see a wealth of hidden emotions dancing in both his and Pikachu's matching brown eyes. The scene looked so lifelike that he almost expected to see himself walking deeper into the grasses and hear Pikachu's excited cries.

The second painting was even more riveting, if possible. This one was of Ash and Venusaur standing in the shadows underneath the leafy canopy of a forest. One of Venusaur's thick vines were securely wrapped around one of the closer tree branches and the other was wrapped firmly around Ash's waist holding him steady as Ash carefully stood on the plant-like Pokémon's back as he returned a fledgling wild taillow back to its nest. He could even see the concern for the Pokémon's well being in his own eyes as he held the tiny bird in his outstretched hands. Ash remembered that exact moment; it had been on their tour of Hoenn just a few years earlier and as he stared down at the painting in his hands he swore he could hear the plaintiff chirps and cheeps of the frightened bird Pokémon as he placed it back in its nest.

If the first two looked ready to come alive any moment, the third and final painting _breathed_. On the background of a clear blue sky, Ash rode on the back of Charizard as the large orange dragon dove towards the earth billowing flames. Ash was bent low over Charizard's neck, his face filled with stony determination as the wind pulled his hair crisply back out of his face. Charizard's wings were tucked tightly against his body and the dragon's eyes were filled with living rage as they fought against some unseen foe somewhere below them. It was the flames that had captured Ash's attention though; they looked so real, the way the main blast of the Flamethrower Attack shot out like a beam, with tiny licks of flame swirling around the hottest fires in the center. Ash could practically feel the heat of the flames as he sat there staring at the painting.

It was at that exact moment that Ash decided that he wasn't going to allow Harry to return to his world alone. He knew, just from the emotions and details captured in those three scenes, that his son needed him far more than any one else did. Ash set the three paintings against the side of his desk with extra care, before exiting his office to look for his son. He found Harry outside with his Pokémon, brushing Dancer's cream colored coat with a curry comb while the others wrestled nearby or sat lounging beside Harry's feet. Walking up to him, Ash didn't say a word; he just pulled Harry into his arms and held him tight for a moment before letting him go so he could smile down at him.

The rest of the day passed by in a haze as Ash continued to dwell on his decision to accompany his son to another world.

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><p><em>Monday Afternoon, August 08, 2011<br>Ketchum Cottage, Viridian City  
>Kanto Region <em>

Three days later, while packing last minute supplies into their packs for their next expedition to the Hoenn region, Ash confronted Harry about his concerns for the future. "Harry, can we talk for a few minutes, before you head outside to start checking over Dancer's packs?"

"Sure, dad," Harry acquiesced, his thoughts more on what he was doing than the concern he heard in his father's voice.

Ash couldn't help the smile that slipped onto his face at hearing Harry opening calling him dad before he grew serious once more as he asked, "How much thought have you given to the day you leave?"

Harry's hands froze on his half-filled daypack as the question blindsided him. Arms shaking, he slowly turned around to peer worriedly into his father's eyes as all of his doubts and fears came rushing back.

"Sit down, Sport," Ash instructed as he sat down on the edge of Harry's bed and patted the mattress beside him. "I know it has been bothering you more and more lately; I've seen it in your eyes when you stare off towards Berry Meadow when you think I'm not paying attention. And while we still have plenty of time before you have to go, I think we need to discuss what will happen when the time comes."

"You want me to go?" Harry asked tentatively, his fear making his voice shake.

"No," Ash answered firmly without hesitation. "I don't. Unfortunately, I don't think either of us has a choice in the matter."

Ash's response leeched a good deal of the tension from Harry's slight frame and put to rest one of the teen's many fears; that Ash didn't really want him here. His relief was equally evident in his voice when he replied with a soft, "I really don't want to go."

"Do you know what scares me the most, Sport?" Harry shook his head no. "I'm afraid of losing you. I'm so scared that the moment you walk through the portal between worlds I will never see you again."

"I was afraid you'd be happy to see the last of me," Harry admitted in return. "I'm afraid of being alone, of being at the mercy of my relatives once more, of leaving my friends behind and never seeing any of you again."

Ash wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulder and pulled him in for a brief hug. They sat there silently for a while, both of them absorbing the knowledge that their fears were very similar and that neither of them wanted to lose the other.

"I think I have a solution," Ash finally stated after the long silence.

"Dad?"

"It's simple really," Ash continued. "You don't want to leave me and I don't want to be left behind, so we all go together."

"Dad?" Harry repeated incredulously.

"It's perfect, you won't be alone and we'll both have our Pokémon with us to protect us and I won't be stuck here worrying about what's happening to you in your world."

"What if there's no way to come back?" Harry asked timidly.

"Then we live out our lives together in your world."

"What about Grandma Delia?"

"I've already talked it over with mom. She understands, even if she isn't exactly happy about both of us going. Mom knows how much you and I need each other."

"So what do we do now?"

"Now? We finish packing! We're due at the docks in two days, and if we miss our ship, your friends in Slateport will be most upset with us because the next one doesn't leave for another month."

Harry laughed loudly as he gave Ash an impulsive hug, before jumping up to finish putting his things into his pack. Both father and son felt much lighter now that they'd cleared the air somewhat and knew they wouldn't have to say goodbye to each other in a few short years.

Two hours later, they locked up the house and headed south to Pallet Town and route twenty-one, where a friend was waiting with his boat to take them by sea to Vermilion City, where they would board the ship that would take them to Slateport. It would have been faster to fly but with Harry's many Pokémon in tow it was much easier to take a boat or walk. Sure, they could have left the seven energetic eevee in Pallet Town with Delia but the little rascals grew heartsick whenever they were left behind and Harry always felt just as bad over the separation. They were also far too attached to Harry for him to trade or give them away to other trainers at this point and the older five were even closer to the boy.

Upon arriving in Slateport, Harry was greeted enthusiastically by his three long-time friends. All three of the boys were taller than Harry, even though they were the same age. The taller boys loved to razz Harry about their nearly foot-and-a-half difference in size but Harry constantly reminded them that dynamite came in small packages and caused far more destruction than it looked like it could. The four boys then spent several minutes catching up with each other as they headed into Slateport where Ash had booked a room for the next couple of weeks.

Rick, Max, and Eli (Harry's friends) then took great pleasure in showing off their Gym Badges that they had earned over the previous years. The three of them had gone to a different Gym each summer for the last three years to challenge the Leaders, and after a couple of losses, they all succeeded in gaining several badges. Harry congratulated them for their accomplishments, even though he didn't feel comfortable making his own Pokémon battle for what he considered silly bits of metal. Thankfully, his friends never gave him a hard time about his decision not to battle nor did they constantly ask him when he would start collecting badges.

Harry spent the rest of his time in the sea-side city was spent on the beach or in the water as the four friends went fishing, snorkeling, surfing, or played volleyball with some of the other local kids. Ash, on the other hand, spent his time on the phone confirming their travel plans, catching up with his contacts in the area, and hunting down any rumors of trouble in the region so they wouldn't be caught unawares during their travels. When time permitted, Ash would also join Harry and the other teens on the beach or in the water.

Two weeks later, Ash and Harry began their familiar circuit around Hoenn. Delays this time were minimal and the two of them completed their rounds in less than seven months. Harry then voted to continue on to Sinnoh early instead of taking a five month vacation; Ash willingly agreed. The Sinnoh tour only took six months, less than half what it took the first time they traveled through the land gathering data. This wasn't completely unexpected though, since Harry was older and he actively helped Ash to gather the data from the various habitats which cut the workload in half. The next leg of their journey took them back to Johto and from there around the various cities of Kanto, where they stopped to spend a few weeks with Delia before finishing up with Professor Elm in Goldenrod City.

It was while they were in Goldenrod City, four months after Harry's tenth Christmas with the Ketchums, that Ash sprung a surprise journey on his son. It was a journey they'd both taken separately many years earlier and it was the journey that ultimately led to their becoming a family. Ash had made plans to take Harry back into the Lost Wilds, so that Harry could say goodbye to the mother ninetales that had saved his life that first summer after he'd been thrown from the magnet train. He knew they might never get another chance to make this journey, seeing as how there was now just barely over a year and a half left before Harry would need to return to his world.

Harry never got to see the entrance to the Lost Wilds, so he didn't recognize the overgrown gate that they passed through. He'd also not gotten that good of a look at the surrounding landmarks which had been buried under snow the last time he'd passed through the area and that had been from the back of Charizard several hundred feet above the ground at a time before he'd received his replacement glasses for the ones he'd lost in Berry Meadow. Three days into the journey they came across the weather-worn shards of the shattered shipping crate that he'd been locked inside of when he'd been thrown from the train.

Those Harry recognized immediately even though the largest pieces of the crate were gone; they had been taken by the police in their efforts to track down the person responsible for pushing Harry from the train. There were enough of the smaller scraps remaining though that there was no doubt about the origin of the bits and pieces. Ash just smiled a half smile when Harry finally figured out where they were. In return, Harry gave him a huge grin of anticipation (his thoughts on the mother ninetales rather than the memory of being trapped inside of the shipping crate) as they turned north towards the thick forests that coated the foothills beneath the mountains.

When they reached the edge of the forest, Trickster gave an excited yip and took off into the trees. Harry let the vulpix go, knowing that the Pokémon would instinctively know where he was going. The other Pokémon with them seemed subdued by comparison, except for the eevees. Nothing seemed to subdue the fox-cats for any length of time greater than five minutes. A week after entering the forest (the group traveling at a leisurely pace to allow the eevee to wear themselves out each day), they entered the small clearing where Ash had been forced to camp for well over four months. The rock ringed campfire pit was still visible though it was buried under a goodly amount of decaying leaves and dirt.

"I ever tell you how much I hate ash trees?" Ash asked rhetorically as they took off their packs and started setting up camp.

"Didn't Gramma Delia name you after an ash tree, dad?"

"I don't know and I'd really rather not know," Ash retorted grumpily as he cleared a section of the ground of rocks and other debris so he could set up the tent.

"I'll go gather some firewood and see if I can spot Trickster any where close by."

"Be careful, son, this is as far as the wild ninetales let me go last time and while they never actually attacked me, I remember feeling as though they really didn't like the fact that I was here."

"I'll be fine, dad," Harry insisted as he slipped Dancer's pack off her back and set it to one side. "Dancer will be with me and Trickster is most likely somewhere close by as well."

Before Ash could say another word, the fire horse and his son had vanished between the trees. Sighing and shaking his head at his son's brash confidence, Ash finished setting up the tent before he went about getting their food supplies strung up in the trees out of reach of most wild Pokémon and the troublesome eevee. He was just clearing the debris out of the old fire pit when all seven eevee suddenly began climbing frantically all over him. As he looked up, he found hundreds of red and amber eyes watching him from the surrounding trees and Ash swallowed nervously as he caught flashes of cream and yellow colored tails between a few of the branches. He'd been surrounded by the ninetales once again.

He didn't have a chance to panic though, because not two seconds after the appearance of the wild Pokémon, Harry returned with Dancer. Dancer's back was covered with a hastily woven grass basket pack that was filled with small bits and pieces of kindling while Harry carried a few larger logs. At Harry's side trotted a grinning Trickster and two near-identical ninetales that were nearly seven and a half times larger than the diminutive vulpix, all three fire Pokémon carrying dead branches in their mouths and with their tails.

Once the wood was piled haphazardly beside the pit, Harry was pounced on by the two ninetales and Trickster; the three Pokémon poking the young teen with their noses and tickling him. It didn't take long for Ash to the conclusion that the pair of wolf-like Pokémon were Trickster's larger brother and sister. After about ten minutes of rough housing, the three Pokémon sat up and howled several times before stretching out around the campfire. Far off in the distance, the howls were echoed by another two voices, and Harry swiveled around to face the direction from which they came so fast that he ripped the side of his pants open when he snagged them against a couple of branches.

"That's her!" Harry crowed enthusiastically as he leapt to his feet and immediately vanished into the forest.

Ash half rose to give chase but after a moment changed his mind and set about stacking the fire wood inside of the fire pit so he could get the campfire started. Harry wasn't reckless; it wasn't in his nature to be reckless. The harsh life with his relatives, the summer and fall spent here in the wilds, and their years spent traveling the untamed lands of various regions had taught Harry to be aware of his surroundings and to be careful. Despite the fact that the teen was currently dashing through the surrounding woods without even taking the time to grab his pack in case he ran into trouble… Ash wasn't worried. Some how, he just knew that Harry would be fine out there.

* * *

><p><strong>AN 12-13-12:<strong>_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._


	27. Reunion

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><em><span>Chapter 27: Reunion<span>_

_Thursday Mid-Afternoon, April 25, 2013  
>The Lost Wilds – Unexplored Territory<br>Located between Saffron City and Goldenrod City _

In the eleven years since Firasia had said goodbye to her man-pup and the magical runt of her first litter, she'd given birth to seven additional litters of vulpix. Four of the seven litters saw twin pups born while the other three had been triplets. As with the triplets she'd born the year of the human child, the runt of each litter fairly reeked of magic. Unlike the year she found and adopted the man-pup, she never tried to push away the magical pup. And of those three enchanted puppies, only one had not survived the First Ember Ceremony. That little girl pup had not wanted to leave the fire that eventually consumed her spirit; though there was no explosion of uncontrolled magical, she had just faded into the flames unafraid. The two surviving runts had both gone on to complete their Naming Journeys and their Fire Rock Ceremonies where they were transformed from vulpix into ninetales.

Rumors of Firasia's surviving pups traveled like wildfire through the communities of the ninetales that made the Lost Wilds their home and soon the elders had searched her out to learn the reasons behind her breach of long standing traditions. So Firasia spoke of the magical human child she saved from certain death; how he refused to allow her to abandon that first runt, how he reached beyond the Ember Ceremonial Fires and brought the magical pup back from the brink of death with a single touch, and how he quickly learned many of the same skills that she taught to her natural born pups. She then told of his inventive skills; how he wove grasses to build the baskets that held food or dry wood for the winter, how he used those same woven strands of grass to make soft beds upon which to sleep, and how he had watched over her children while she hunted for food during those early weeks.

The elders were unimpressed with her tale in the beginning, until a few of the watchers stepped forward to tell their tales. The watchers had been the ones who had prevented the human adult male from entering the scared breeding grounds and made certain he stayed long enough to take the human child once Firasia came to her senses and sent the child back to those he belonged with. They spoke of the man's kindness to both his captive Pokémon and the wild Pokémon and how he treated the forest with kindness and respect during the long vigil they had kept over his camp. They also spoke of the strange sadness they felt the day the man left, taking the child with him.

It was then that the whisperings began flooding through the numerous family packs; stories and tales of humans that lived as equals among the Pokémon, legends of a time when mankind did not entrap Pokémon inside of small metal balls that subjugated their wills, and myths of powerful magical humans that created the Pokémon for companionship when the world was young. There were two dark years after that; two years where no female gave birth to any pups as the packs fought against each other. One side wanted to continue their traditions, to set the Guardians among the men that attempted to invade their lands. The other side wanted to leave the safety of the mountains and seek out the fabled men of old.

War was imminent, when a single ninetales was discovered injured in the fringes of the forests. Her tale was terrible and tragic; she had left safety of the Lost Wilds to search for the humans from the stories and legends only to find herself being attacked time after time by the worst sort of humans. She'd barely escaped being captured more times than she could count and had nearly been unable to return to the Wilds. The brewing tensions melted away practically overnight as the realization that while there may be a few rare humans that don't desire the enslavement of all Pokémon, there were ten times as many humans that did. Balance was restored but the price had been high for they had lost countless unborn pups during the infertile years of strife and more than a few foolish youngsters that hadn't been as lucky in returning as the young female had been. It had taken them three years to rebuild their community back up to what it had been prior to the whisperings. And they were stronger for having lived through the difficulties.

Firasia had once more faded into the background, her man-pup all but forgotten about by the other ninetales. Only her mate and her children remembered the fiery green eyes of the brave human child that lived in the mountains for two brief seasons. She made certain the story was told to each new litter from the moment they were born so that her man-child would not be forgotten when she no longer walked this earth.

Today found Firasia on the forested foothills, searching out the softest and freshest grasses for her nest. She was carrying once again and knew she had only a few months left before she would give birth. Fleetfoot was still there with her, though he would be leaving sometime in the next week as he always did when it drew near to her time. The two of them were walking silently side by side, each with a mouth full of sweet grasses for the nest, when they heard the familiar howls of three of their children calling out to them in the distance. Firasia stopped in her tracks the moment she recognized which of her three children were singing out to her. That litter had not spoken to the wind together for nearly eleven years; when they were first learning to speak to the moon.

Dropping her burden, she sat down and lifted her nose to the sky and howled long and loud in reply as her mate beside her did the same. When she finished, she jumped to her feet and headed off towards where her children were waiting; the grasses she'd been gathering lay forgotten where they'd fallen to the forest floor. With each loping step, her heart swelled with the hope that her wayward children had returned to her. She also feared that the man-pup was lost to her forever now that the first of her magical pups had come back to the Wilds. Fleetfoot trailed behind her uncertainly, for he too knew what the calls had represented, and he worried that he could yet lose his mate to the pull from the human child.

They'd only traveled about a quarter of the distance when they heard the thin, reedy cry of the human child echoing through the forest. It wasn't a cry of pain or fear but the simple call telling the world that 'I am here'. It was the only howl the human child had learned to speak and Firasia's heart filled with joy as she howled in reply without missing a step. Her son had come home.

* * *

><p><em>Thursday Afternoon, April 25, 2013<br>The Lost Wilds – Unexplored Territory  
>Located between Saffron City and Goldenrod City <em>

Harry didn't recognize the two ninetales that approached him while he was out gathering fire wood with Dancer but the moment he saw Trickster join them, he knew exactly who they were and he gave an unconscious whine in the back of his throat that spurred the two evolved vulpix that he considered brothers to rush up to him in greeting. They quickly took a few of the larger pieces of wood he'd gathered and then followed him back to the camp where all three siblings tackled him playfully for a few minutes before howling.

In his mind, Harry could hear their younger voices from when they were first learning how to sing and he smiled fondly down at the trio. He was just getting ready to start stacking the wood they'd brought when he heard a very familiar howl rise up out of the distance in harmony with another. He just knew that was his mother ninetales answering her children, and after blurting his thoughts aloud, he took off into the trees at a dead run. He had to see her!

He'd only been running for a few minutes when he felt the need to let her know that he was here too, so he lifted his head back and gave out the only howl he knew how. It echoed all around him for a few minutes before the ninetales howled back in reply – she was even closer now. Eagerness filled Harry, and tears of emotion prickled at the corners of his eyes as he changed direction slightly so he was headed directly for the ninetales. Knowing she was a faster runner, he howled a second time and his magic, reacting to his extreme emotions, filled his voice and gave new meaning to his wordless cry.

And then suddenly she was there, bounding out of the trees right in front of him, and Harry stumbled to a stop that ended with him kneeling just a few feet in front of the mother ninetales. They stared into each others eyes for several long minutes, until suddenly, without either of them seeming to have moved, his arms were wrapped around her neck and her front legs were draped over his shoulders as she licked his face enthusiastically, while her tails wrapped them both inside a protective cocoon.

He had missed his mother wolf-creature so much in the beginning, especially during the long journey out of the forest with Ash. She'd been the first to love him as a mother would in his memories when he'd first met her and he had basked in her unconditional love those few short months they had spent together. He would have gladly stayed with her for the rest of his life but she hadn't let him. He'd been so hurt, thinking she didn't want him; but through the years he came to realize that he might not have survived the entire winter and he couldn't regret the life he had made with his father.

"Have you taken care of all your puppies, like a good mummy?" Harry asked as he finally loosened his hold on her and leaned back so he could look her in the eye.

The ninetales yipped and nodded before placing her nose on his as they stared deeply into each other's eyes. And suddenly Harry knew that she'd missed him just as much as he'd missed her and she hadn't forgotten that all children need their mothers, regardless of how they looked. Harry smiled at her and ran his fingers through her mane before giving her a kiss on the nose.

When they disentangled their limbs from each other, he saw the larger male ninetales watching distrustfully from just a few feet away. Harry suspected that this was Trickster's father but knew proving that would be difficult. He didn't let the wary Pokémon ruin his good mood though, he was too happy at the chance to spend a little time with the mother ninetales. In fact, the joy he felt inside was impossible to contain, and he tipped his head back once more and howled long and loud a third time; the magic inside him once again adding feeling and meaning to his voice.

"I have missed you," Harry whispered when he finished, his voice thick with emotion.

* * *

><p><em>And I have missed you, my pup,<em> Firasia replied as she nuzzled the near grown man-pup with her nose.

_He reeks of magic,_ Fleetfoot growled from behind her. _Can you not feel it when he sings?_

_Yes, his magic has grown in leaps and bounds since he returned to the world of man beyond our borders,_ Firasia replied as she leaned into the young man beside her and closed her eyes in ecstasy as he scratched her behind the ears. _I can also no longer sense the madness in him. Whatever he has done over the long seasons since he left my nest, he has at least broken free of those chains. _

_And what will you do now, my mate?_

_I will run with my son through the forests as I have not done in years. The same as I would do with any of our children,_ Firasia chided impatiently as she whirled out of the boy's arms to face her mate.

Fleetfoot cowered down just enough to show Firasia that he didn't wish to fight her but not enough to be seen as submissive. Firasia snorted irritably at her mate but didn't pursue the argument as she turned back to nudge her human son instead. It took her a few minutes to communicate her desire to the man-child but once he understood what she wanted he wasted no time in climbing onto her back.

The first thing she noticed was that he'd grown slightly more then she had thought; though the weight increase wasn't more than she could handle, even with a belly full of pups. The second thing she noticed was that he seemed far more at ease on her back than he had when he was younger and it thrilled her to know he still trusted her despite the years of separation. With a loud challenging bark to her mate, she dashed off into the forest with her son crowing wildly upon her back. A few seconds later she heard Fleetfoot following and she yipped in pure excitement as she picked up the pace.

For nearly two hours the three of them wove gracefully between the many tree trunks, rushing up and down the gently flowing foothills as they reveled in the feel of the wind rushing all around them. It was a wild chase that made Firasia's blood sing with the magic that ran through her veins and her fur prickle as her son's stronger magic washed over her as he hunkered low over her back and egged her on. Eventually though, her body flagged as the vulpix growing within her belly sapped her once limitless energy. Slowing down to a gentle lope, Firasia finally allowed her mate to catch up to her side and together the three of them turned around and made their way to the clearing where Firasia had first found the man-child that had claimed her heart.

The moon had nearly reached its zenith when they reached the clearing where the adult human had set up camp. Firasia could sense her fellow ninetales guarding the perimeter of the camp, just as they had eleven years prior. She paid the others no mind though; she simply walked right out into the moon-washed clearing, bold as could be with her son still clinging to her back. The human adult greeted her warmly and offered her food and water in strange metal dishes while her son slipped down off her back.

The water was a bit warm and stale but refreshing after the long run. The strange bits of food, on the other hand, were delicious, tasting of nuts and berries that invigorated her as she ate them. Fleetfoot tentatively joined her in sampling the fare but he made his wariness evident in that he constantly kept one eye on both of the humans. They'd barely finished the last of the offerings when the two of them were pounced on by their oldest trio of children. Emberflight and Flamesong, the larger brother and sister respectively, were laughing excitedly as they tackled their parents. The third pup, still in his vulpix form, gave his mother all of the attention at first, until he tentatively greeted his father. This would be the first meeting between the runt and his father.

_You have been gone many years, young one of my blood, I had not thought to ever meet you, my son,_ Fleetfoot stated formally as the two of them sniffed noses.

The vulpix simply shrugged his shoulders and crouched down beside the much larger male as he turned his attention to his human brother. After a minute he finally spoke, _I had gone where I was needed most, father. My brother would have been lost without me._

_And you have not sought to make your Naming Journey or the Fire Rock Ceremony?_

_I am Trickster,_ the young vulpix replied. _My brother named me during the forty-fifth season of our journey together. I chose not to complete the Fire Rock Ceremony when I had the chance two years earlier. The time was not right and my brother was not ready. Though, if there is time before we leave and if the elders will give permission for our brother to join me on my journey, I will climb the mountain to perform the Fire Rock Ceremony before we say goodbye._

_Have you been happy, my son?_ Firasia asked as she joined father and son beside the fire.

_Yes,_ Trickster replied simply.

The small vulpix would have said more but at that moment the trio of fire Pokémon was attacked by the pack of young fox-cats. Trickster laughed and immediately began playing with the rambunctious kits while Fleetfoot and Firasia were completely confused.

_What madness is this!?_ Fleetfoot cried as one of the male eevee latched onto one of his many tails with a fierce yet playful growl.

_They are young yet, father, they wish only to play,_ Trickster explained. _My brother rescued them when foul humans murdered their mother shortly after they were born. He has rescued us all, in a way. We follow him because he gives of himself without asking for anything in return._

Nothing more was said as the family of ninetales and one vulpix settled beside the campfire and watched as the eevee turned their attention to the human child when they grew bored of wrestling with the wild fire Pokémon. Before their astonished eyes, the other Pokémon that followed the boy joined in the game until the young eevee grew tired and fell asleep in a large pile of brown fur.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> _I know this was a rather short, fluffy chapter but hopefully not too terribly boring. And for the first time we actually get a bit of insight into what Trickster thinks of Harry. I tried to paint a picture of how the ninetales society works but I'm still not exactly happy with the way it turned out since it doesn't really give any insight in the concept of the Guardian Nine that I introduced when I first introduced Firasia. Once I finish writing the rest of the series I may come back and tear that part of this chapter apart in order to fix it. I did make a few attempts prior to posting the updated version of this chapter but I still fell short of what I actually wanted. I suppose it will have to do for the moment and hope it won't put anyone off reading the rest of the story since there are only five more chapters left to post and they turned out much better than this one… IMO. ~ Jenn_

**AN 12-13-12:**_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._


	28. Long Goodbyes

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><em><span>Chapter 28: Long Goodbyes<span>_

_Saturday Morning, July 20, 2013  
>The Lost Wilds – Unexplored Territory<br>Located between Saffron City and Goldenrod City _

The three months spent with the family of ninetales were filled with constant movement as Harry set out from camp each morning before sunrise to run with his adopted siblings. They'd gather berries, nuts, and firewood that they carried back to the den where they were stored in tightly woven grass baskets that Harry made while on the move. They had also brought back fallen feathers and grasses for the nest the mother ninetales was making for her latest litter of pups.

Each evening Harry would return to camp with an additional pack full of berries and nuts. These berries would be sliced into sections so their seeds could be removed before their fruit was offered to the various Pokémon that had journeyed with them. The seeds would then be set out dry near the campfire before Harry packed them carefully away in packets made from folded paper that he would label with a seed count, the name of the berry (if he knew it), and the properties of the berry. The majority of the nuts Harry gathered were preserved for the same reason, though they were far easier to deal with since Harry could just leave them in their shells. When Ash asked him why he was doing that, Harry said he wished to take them with him when it was time to go. Ash thought it an excellent idea and immediately offered to prepare and dry the seeds during the days while he puttered around the camp.

Harry also stripped small handfuls of seeds from the tall grasses when he walked through them on his travels between camp and den. He specifically gathered those that Dancer seemed to enjoy eating as well as those that he thought made the sturdiest baskets. He supposed there'd be similar plants back in his own world but he really wished to take the familiar with him when he was forced to go; especially considering that there was a chance he'd never return. The idea that he'd be able to cultivate a tiny part of home, wherever he ended up, helped to ease the pain in his heart.

Ash was finally allowed to leave the camp and follow along with Harry during the second month they were there and the older man was amazed at the things he saw as they traveled through the forest and foothills. He easily noted the hundreds of various burrows, dens, and partially hidden nests that pocketed the land beyond the forest when he'd previously been confined and mentally tallied the number of wild Pokémon that must make this land their home. Though he prominently only saw the occasional vulpix and numerous ninetales, he saw plenty of evidence that indicated the presence of wild pidgey, pidgeotto, pidgeot, spearow, fearow, diglett, dugtrio, and yanma.

His first trip inside an actual ninetales den was a wonder in itself and he was fascinated by the smoothly packed floor, high ceiling that was coated with soot, and natural spring in the corner. He had no trouble noting of the similarities between the ninetales' den and Harry's room as far as color went; though he'd known the inspiration for the dark décor in his son's room long before now, seeing the den for himself impressed upon him just how much this den must have meant to a much younger Harry. Ash couldn't help the pang of sadness he felt over the excitement Professor Oak would have displayed over a chance to stand inside the den of a wild ninetales and wished the old man were still alive so they could have shared the moment.

During their third and final month spent in the Lost Wilds, Ash remained alone in the camp with Splash, Dave, the unnamed trapinch, and his own Pokémon while Harry, Trickster, Dancer, and the pack of eevee traveled into the mountains with Trickster's larger littermates.

The trek up the mountain was rough; the group never stopped moving, not even at night to sleep. They even ate on the run, surviving solely on what berries they carried with them or could gather on the move. If not for Dancer's pack, the young eevee would have never been able to keep up with the larger, stronger Pokémon; the seven small fox-cats riding inside the baskets whenever they got too tired. Harry even rode on Dancer's back for the first time whenever he needed a short break to rest his eyes and regain his flagging energy. Trickster and the two ninetales never took a turn resting though, for this was an important journey for the young fire fox.

When they reached the summit, Harry was surprised to find what he'd previously believed was just a mountain was actually an active volcano. He could see the hot magma bubbling away through the cracks in the heart of the massive volcano as they stood on the rim looking down. He could feel the heat through the soles of his feet and could smell the sulfur in the air. This would be as far as he would be going. The two ninetales and Trickster gave him a nudge and a lick before the three of them disappeared down below the rim to finish their journey.

Before he could prevent it, one of the male eevee took off after the disappearing fire Pokémon, and Harry was quick to confine the remaining six inside of Dancer's pack to prevent them from trying to follow as well. He then tried to see if he could spy the little escapee through the light, smoke, and fumes but the little brown fox-cat had disappeared along with the larger ninetales and vulpix.

Five days later, the ninetales and Trickster returned to the rim. In his mouth, Trickster carried the exhausted body of the little male eevee who in turn gripped a small red stone in his mouth. Harry relieved Trickster of his burden, checking the eevee kit over for injuries or burns but other then a touch of singed fur and a case of extreme heat exhaustion, he seemed just fine. The group then moved down the side of the volcano, not stopping until the moon had reached its zenith two days later and they were approximately halfway down the side of the mountain.

Here, the two ninetales built a small fire out of the tough dry weeds that grew on the sides of the mountain. The fire quickly grew hotter as they added different stones to the flames, and Harry was forced to move further away, as the heat was nearly as intense as the molten lava that filled the heart of the volcano. The tiny eevee cowered behind him while Dancer (minus her pack) calmly stood beside the fire, basking in the heat of the flames as they re-energized her after the difficult journey. When the flames of the fire turned blue, Trickster stepped into the fire and removed his own red stone from within the curls of his tail.

As Harry watched, Trickster chewed the stone with eyes closed. When he swallowed the last bite, the flames around him flared high and shot hundreds of orange, red, and blue sparks into the sky. Harry's eyes remained glued to Trickster's form as the small vulpix seemed to swell in the dancing light at the center of the blue flames. The three tails of the vulpix each split into three additional tails as they unfurled and grew longer, their tips waving about like flames themselves. The color of his tail tips slowly changed from the color of dried blood to a vivid lava red, as did the four socks that covered his paws. The rest of his body fur, including his mane and belly fur, faded to a pale white that practically sparkled and glittered like snow crystals in the firelight. Finally, his ears turned more wolfish and his snout grew noticeably longer as his transformation from vulpix to ninetales became complete.

Opening his vivid blue-flame eyes, Trickster grinned out at Harry before tilting his nose to the sky to howl at the moon. As the echo of his song faded into the night, the last of the flames faded into the red glowing coals of the now dying fire. Trickster stepped out of the embers and shook his newly evolved body, sending a scattering of ashes across the side of the volcano. Harry didn't hesitate in going to his best friend and brother the moment he was free of the still searing coals; reaching out to run his fingers over Trickster's new body, searching for any sign of injury or strain. A crunching sound off to his left distracted him from Trickster in the middle of the inspection as the little male eevee who had followed the ninetales into the active volcano chewed his own bit of hard won firestone. Harry hadn't known that eevee could evolve by eating stones – in fact he really didn't know much about eevee evolutions at all, having not paid that much attention to Pokémon evolutions when he was reading about the different Pokémon.

The little male's siblings all watched with Harry as the little male's body doubled in size and changed from brown to red-orange. His tale, neck ruff, and the tiny fluff of fur on the top of his head faded to a creamy yellow that looked like wild flames the way it puffed out in odd directions and his face took on more cat-like features. Harry wasn't sure what type of Pokémon the eevee had evolved into but he was sure that his dad would know. Once the transformation was complete, the former eevee male dove into the center of the still glowing coals and rolled around in them, until they faded to black and crumpled to ash.

Confused, but not angry or afraid, Harry approached the young fire-fox-cat and scratched it behind the ears with one hand as he ran the other over the rest of the new creature's body, checking for any injuries or signs of stress from the evolution. Satisfied that the young male was fine, Harry got up and dug into Dancer's packs to pull out some of the left over fruits and nuts he'd brought with him and passed them out to the famished Pokémon. As he handed a berry to the evolved eevee, he christened the newly evolved creature Jester; because the little male had been fool enough to enter the heart of a volcano to get a firestone in order to evolve, even though he'd not been an actual fire-type Pokémon prior to his evolution.

The rest of the trip back to the camp was fairly uneventful and unhurried and Harry took the opportunity to grab several handfuls of the various berries that didn't grow down in the forests. He also picked up a few of the different kinds of rocks he found laying on the ground. There was basalt (both black and red), pale pumice, the black glass-like obsidian, large bits of kimberlite with diamonds embedded inside, as well as a few chunks of red and gray chert and the darker flint. He only picked up a few of each type though because the rocks were heavy especially the larger bits of kimberlite.

The group was met at the base of the volcano by the large male ninetales that Harry believed was the father of Trickster and his siblings. The old ninetales seemed caught off guard by the presence of Jester but didn't seem to mind his presence when he joined the three younger ninetales in greeting the older Pokémon. As Harry passed by the five fire Pokémon, the older male turned and sniffed at his pants before flicking him with a single tail. Harry took that as grudging acceptance of his presence and returned the gesture with a brief ear scratch.

Harry then continued down to the mother ninetales' den, where he found her curled up in her nest with three newly born pups nestled against her tummy. She briefly growled at him when he first entered but quickly stopped the moment she recognized him. Harry smiled at her in the dark as he knelt beside her and scratched her ears while she licked his face. He then took a moment to inspect the trio of pups and found all three of them looked exactly like Trickster had when he was born, though they weren't quite as small as he had been.

"They look beautiful, mother ninetales," Harry whispered. "You should be proud of yourself. I guess this means this is goodbye again." The ninetales whined and nudged Harry impatiently. "I'd rather stay here with you too but I can't; I have to go home." As he said this, the ninetales wrapped two of her tails around his waist and whined again. "I'll miss you too but Hypno said I had to go. I don't know if I will be able to come back but if I do, I promise I will come see you again the first chance I get."

For several minutes the ninetales held him tightly in her tails before she slowly and reluctantly let him go. She rubbed her head against his chest and licked his face several times before she lay her head down on her paws and whimpered softly as she cried several pearly tears. Harry leaned down and gently kissed her on the nose, letting his own tears mix with hers for several minutes before he stood up and left the underground cave without looking back.

Just outside the cave he found the other Pokémon waiting for him and he knelt down before the large male and in his most commanding voice, ordered the old male to watch over protect the mother ninetales. Magic swirled around boy and wolf-like creature as the old ninetales gravely nodded his head once before bowing down in front of Harry. Harry brushed the Pokémon's head with his fingers before he turned and ran the rest of the way back to his father's camp; his emotions all over the place as he tried not to think of leaving the mother ninetales behind a second time.

By the time he reached camp he was back in control of his emotions again, though he was still feeling wretched about saying goodbye. His Pokémon had finally caught up with him just as he entered the small clearing and he felt reassured by their presence at his side and the sight of his father along with the rest of his Pokémon friends patiently waiting for him in the center of the camp. The three weeks he'd been gone on the journey to the top of the mountain had been the longest time he'd spent away from his father since the day he'd been brought to Ash's camp that cold winter night by the mother ninetales. And he had missed his father many times during those few weeks.

Ash met him halfway across the clearing and the two of them hugged in silent greeting before settling around the campfire to eat a light lunch. As they ate, Harry described the trip up the mountain and the evolutions that the two Pokémon had undergone after eating the stones. Ash immediately recognized Jester's new form as that of flareon, and he went on to explain that there were at least seven different evolutions possible for an eevee; though he mentioned that there might be others that hadn't yet been discovered. His father was curious if all of the eevee had shown a desire to enter the volcano or if it had just been the one male. Harry replied that he wasn't sure as he'd bundled the other six into the pack as soon as he saw the first one disappear into the volcano.

Ash then reminded Harry that the eevee had all been highly interested in the evolution stones he'd gotten for Christmas two years earlier. Harry admitted to having forgotten all about the stones after putting them up in his closet out of reach of the troublesome kits. Harry then asked which stones would work on the eevees and what the new forms would be. He found it curious to learn that only three of the seven possible forms required the evolution stones while another two required eevee to be near one of two particular stones in Sinnoh – an ice covered boulder on route seventeen up near Lake Acruity and a moss covered boulder deep in the north-western corner of the Eterna Forest.

When asked about the final two evolutions, Ash explained that they occurred when an eevee trusted and loved its trainer. One form took place in the moonlight and the other under the sunlight. When Harry asked why there seemed to be so many different evolutions for one Pokémon, Ash responded that eevee was the most adaptable Pokémon in existence and that it had the ability to evolve into a type of Pokémon that was best suited for the environment that it lived in.

They spent another two nights camped in the clearing before packing up camp early the morning after the second night and hiking back out of the forest. Harry was silent during the journey out, quietly slipping through the trees as he continued to gather berries and nuts as they traveled. Once they reach the grasslands, they headed in a more westerly direction to cut a day or two off the journey's length. By the time they reached the gate that marked the entrance to the Lost Wilds, Harry's somber mood had faded somewhat, though he was still sad to leave the Wilds and the mother ninetales behind.

Once in Saffron City, they spent the night at one of the various hotels so they could clean up and get a good night's sleep. The next day they caught a flight to Viridian (the eevee now old enough to sit in the cargo hold of the plane with the other larger Pokémon) where they dropped off their packs and equipment, before walking down to Pallet Town in time to spend Harry's sixteenth birthday on July thirty-first with Delia, and stayed until Ash's thirty-first birthday on August fifth.

When they returned home on the sixth, they spent a couple of days unpacking and washing their dirty clothes before settling back down to work. Ash returned to his research while Harry went about taking care of the neglected gardens outside and restocking the cabinets and refrigerator with food. It was a relaxing time for the two as they had rarely spent much time at home over the last ten years.

While they were there, Harry took to cleaning up his room. It wasn't that his room was a mess; it was just disorganized and filled with all of the various 'treasures' he'd picked up and been given during their many years of traveling. Knowing how little time he had left in this world, Harry carefully began sorting his stuff into three different categories; things he no longer needed or wanted, things he wanted but knew he couldn't take with him, and finally the things he refused to leave behind.

The first category mostly consisted of old clothes and old school assignments that were quickly thrown out or set aside to give to charity in the case of the clothes that were still in good condition. In the second category were an assortment of toys, books, and knickknacks that he'd picked up or been given over the years. These items would be carefully packed into boxes that would be placed into storage just before they left. The final and smallest group of items consisted of several special trinkets, his good luck charms, a few favorite books, his art supplies and portfolios, and a few other odds and ends that he felt would come in handy.

While he was digging through his closet for the box of evolution stones, which he planned to take with him, he found the old purse he'd brought with him when he first came to this world. He hadn't seen the battered bit of leather in well over eight years and had pretty much forgotten that he still had it. Curious about what else was inside of it, he emptied it out onto his desk. What he found made him smile sadly, as there were just a few broken bits of crayon, a rolled up pile of rags, the old book of fairy tales, and a couple of shriveled berries that he'd gathered that day. On a whim, he unfolded his cousin's old hand-me-downs that he'd been forced to wear. As he unrolled the pants, he heard something drop onto the floor and roll under his desk.

Curious, he draped the pants over his chair and got down on his knees to see what it was. When he found the object, he felt his entire body go numb as a huge rock settled into the pit of his stomach. Sitting on the floor under his desk, rocking gently back and forth, was the black crayon he'd used to create the door that brought him to this world. Tiny sparkles, like stars, glittered brightly against the darkness of the black wax, and Harry's breath caught in his throat as he felt the magic in the crayon reaching out to him as he stared at the innocent-looking crayon.

When he could finally move again, Harry reached out and lifted the crayon into his hand and he felt it grow warm under his touch. Swallowing thickly, he half turned to face his open door and bellowed for Ash at the top of his lungs as the reality of leaving settled heavily onto his shoulders.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> _Now… some of you might think it was unrealistic of Harry to not know what evolutionary forms eevee took but the way I see it, Harry was far too caught up in mothering the seven kits and taking care of the other five to spend that much time reading the various books he had. That's not to say he didn't browse through them on occasion but he didn't make any efforts to memorize all of the Pokémon facts. There's also the fact that there are several hundred different Pokémon out there and the small family was constantly on the move, traveling from region to region. – Jenn_

**AN 12-13-12:**_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._


	29. The Count Down Begins

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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><p><em><span>Chapter 29: The Count Down Begins<span>_

_Sunday Afternoon, August 11, 2013  
>Ketchum Cottage, Viridian City<br>Kanto Region_

When Ash heard Harry calling for him, he sounded so panicked that Ash immediately feared the worst, as he dropped what he was doing and rushed into Harry's room with a pair of pokéballs in hand as he expected a fight or some other emergency. Instead, he found a pale faced Harry sitting on the floor just under his desk holding an odd crayon in his hand as if he were holding a stick of dynamite with the fuse lit.

"Harry?" Ash inquired, his voice loaded with anxiety as he searched the room for any sign of danger with his eyes.

"I found my crayon."

"Um…"

"It's my missing black crayon, the one I lost when I first got here," Harry whispered in a stricken voice.

"Huh? I don't understand…"

"This crayon… well it was different before, it was small and broken like the others but this can only be the one I found the morning I went through the door."

"Harry, you're not making any sense."

"This is the crayon that I used to draw the door that brought me here, to this world."

"I see…" Ash replied as he sat down on Harry's bed and studied his son closely. "You are worried again."

"It's a year too soon. I don't want to leave early."

"Then we won't; all this means is that you have found the means for us to return to your former world. It doesn't mean we have to leave right now," Ash calmly pointed out in an attempt to sooth Harry's fears. "We still have nearly a full year before we need to worry about leaving. For now, just put the… magic… crayon somewhere safe so we can find it again when it's time to go."

"Thanks, dad," Harry said as he opened the bottom drawer of his desk with a shaking hand and dropped the crayon into the drawer before wearily climbing back to his feet. "I guess it caught me completely off guard to find it now and I might have overreacted a bit."

"Where did you find it?"

"In the purse I brought with me, it must have been wrapped up inside the old pants I'd had in there. It fell out of them when I unrolled them."

"You're not planning on saving those rags, are you?"

"Nah, I don't need or want them. I would have thrown them out years ago if I hadn't forgotten I had them; the purse had been buried in my closet under some of my old clothes and things for years after all. I only found it because I was sorting through what to put in storage and what I want to throw out or take with me."

"Alright, why don't you finish up what you were doing and then we'll make supper together."

"Sounds good, dad," Harry agreed as he dusted off his pants before putting everything but the dirty old rags into the purse, which he then tucked into one of the boxes going to storage. "Hey, dad?" He asked suddenly as Ash reached the door. "Can we go visit the old Hypno before Christmas this year? I'd like to see him one last time before we go…"

"I don't see why not, we can leave as early as next week. I need to see my contacts in Sinnoh anyway, since I need to go over the preparations for the aides to continue our research after we leave."

"Thanks again, dad."

"That's what I'm here for, son."

* * *

><p><em>August 2013 to December 2013<br>Sinnoh and Kanto Regions_

A week and a half later found the group flying out to Sinnoh, with Harry's many Pokémon and Ash's Pikachu decidedly uncomfortable down in the cargo hold; as there'd been no room for any of them to have seats inside the plane. Once they landed in Veilstone, they quickly made their way out onto route one-ten, where they met one of Ash's research aides, who was waiting with one of the few research helicopters Ash had permission to use to give them a lift up to Celestic City. Normally they would have walked the entire way but in light of how little time they had left to get their affairs in order before they had to leave, it was decided they'd travel by the quickest means possible.

Upon landing just outside Celestic City, Harry immediately began organizing their packs while Ash thanked his fellow researcher and headed into town to buy any supplies they would need for the anticipated hike up to the Hypno's cave. Dancer and Trickster were both kitted out with twin packs for this trip. The recently evolved ninetales had grown considerably during his transformation (though he was still only about a quarter of the size of his sibling ninetales) and he was now better equipped to handle carrying a portion of the load; allowing them to carry more food with them. On the hike up to Hypno's Cave, Trickster would be carrying a large number of berries that they would be presenting as a gift to Hypno once they reached his cave.

Dancer, in addition to carrying their food and extra blankets, would be giving a lift to Splash, Dave, the six remaining eevee, and the trapinch. Jester would make the trip on his own four feet carrying a smaller twin basket pack designed to get him accustomed to the concept of carrying supplies. The fire fox-cat would be carrying some of the small volcanic rocks and pebbles that Harry had brought as a gift for the Hypno, since the excitable flareon had a tendency to roll when wearing the pack.

They started up the trail an hour later with Ash in the lead carrying Pikachu on his shoulder followed by Jester, Trickster, and Dancer, leaving Harry to bring up the rear as he gathered wild berries, grass, grass seeds, and bits of dried wood along the way. That night they set up camp well after dark on one of the small grass meadows that dotted the mountain side. By the light of the fire, Harry wrapped up the grass seeds he'd gathered, striped the seeds from the berries to dry them, and began weaving the thicker grasses into five-foot sections of rope to make them easier to carry. In the morning, the grass ropes were draped over Dancer's back on top of the packs and the packets of seeds were tucked into the side pouch of Harry's backpack.

It only took them four days to reach the top this time, their familiarity with the trails they needed to take and the fact that Harry and his Pokémon were far stronger now allowing them to make fewer stops along the way, where they were greeted by Hypno. The ancient Pokémon welcomed them into his home and informed them that they had been expected. He then introduced both humans to a younger hypno named Dreamer, whom they were told was the ancient Pokémon's apprentice. The numerous gifts of berries, grasses, and rare rocks were accepted with much appreciation by both psychic Pokémon.

Father and son ended up spending two months with Hypno and Dreamer. Harry spent that time as an apprentice of sorts to the ancient Hypno as he was taught how to identify and harvest various plants, herbs, and minerals that could be used in cooking and for medicines. He was also taught how to prepare and preserve the various materials and the proper way to make the various medicinal potions as well several kinds of Wild Poffins. Using one of his blank sketch books that he always carried with him, Harry wrote down dozens of recipes for various homemade cures and remedies, in addition to a few healing soups, restorative drinks, and the nutritional hard biscuit-like cakes known as poffins.

The elder Hypno also taught Harry how to create small bottles out of rocks and crystals using his magic. It was difficult for Harry to draw his magic out intentionally and direct it at first but he eventually managed to make passable crystal jars and small rock boxes that could be used to store the various ingredients he gathered. Harry left the larger stone boxes (made during his first few successful tries) for Hypno to use, since they were far too heavy and bulky to carry back down the mountain.

The last week of their stay was spent gathering a fair amount of the minerals that couldn't be found outside of Mt. Coronet and collecting seeds from the berries and plants that didn't grow in the lower altitudes. As a final gift, Hypno presented Harry and Ash each with a ten inch long, ten inch wide, and five inch high opaque crystal box that held hundreds of thumbnail-sized gemstones. There were emeralds, rubies, sapphires, diamonds, topazes, garnets, tourmalines, opals, turquoises, aquamarines, and many other gems, each of them cut into identical quarter-inch cubes.

A few quick calculations determined that each box contained exactly four thousand raw gemstones of the finest quality. When Ash attempted to protest, he was told that they would have need of the gems where they were going and all they did was gather dust in the caves. His conscience was further put to rest when Dreamer revealed that there were millions of the naturally grown gemstones hidden throughout the caves and down in the caldera.

The final bit of advice Hypno departed as they said their farewells was to Harry in regards to his magic.

"_You have grown during your years in our world and you have found who you wish to be. Do not forget who you are when you leave this world behind, for no matter where you go you will always be who you are. Your magic is a part of who you are and when you learn to accept that, you will find that it will no longer fight you when you try to use it,_"Hypno telepathically told the young man. "_And remember, the more realistic the door, the easier the journey shall be and naming the door will influence your destination. If you visit the unown, they can teach you what you will need to know in order to navigate to your world without getting lost. May luck and magic guide you on your journey, Fate's Son._"

After spending some time discussing Hypno's advice to visit the unown while they set up camp that first night on their way back down the mountain, the two of them decided to head directly to Solaceon Town instead of flying down to Pastoria City as they originally planned. Ash spent the next two days e-mailing various people to announce their change in plans and to make certain they had a ride waiting for them when they reached Celestic City in a couple of days.

Once they reached Solaceon Town, Harry made a beeline for the Daycare Center where he made arrangements for Splash, Dave, the trapinch, and the eevee as well as Pikachu to spend the next day at the Center while Trickster, Dancer, and Jester would be going with Harry to the Ruins. The only reason Pikachu would be spending the day in the Daycare Center instead of hanging out with Ash was because they needed someone to keep a closer eye on the rambunctious eevee kits to keep them out of trouble. Ash, in the mean time, would spend the day contacting his fellow researchers to make adjustments to his schedule so he could still make time to visit each of them to go over last minute details and inspect the research equipment in the various habitats.

Harry showed up at the Ruins bright and early the next morning and was pleasantly surprised to discover that his guide for the day was their friend Calvin. The jovial old hiker happily released his rapidash so Dancer could spend some time with her mother as they traveled down to the deeper caverns and unpopular portions of the ruins where the unown typically hung out. Deep in the lowest level of the ruins, Calvin showed Harry a series of large stone tablets that had images of the unown carved into them and Harry was reminded of how much the unown resembled the letters of the alphabet.

As he stared down at the carvings, a vague memory of a small door that had opened out of the tree floated through Harry's mind followed closely by the memory of the wild unown wishing him happy birthday the first time he visited the Ruins shortly after Hypno had helped him to remember his name. As he mentally compared the two memories, he thought he might have figured out what the unown were supposed to teach him. Using several of the blank pages from the sketch pad turned recipe book, Harry made charcoal rubbings of each stone tablet so he could study them later. As he was working, a crowd of wild unown gathered around him, causing Calvin to become nervous over the large number of unown present while the two of them only had six Pokémon between them for protection. Trickster, Dancer, Jester, and Calvin's rapidash ignored the wild Pokémon though; the four fire Pokémon far more interested in digging through the loose dirt in the far corner of the room.

When Harry finally noticed the Pokémon surrounding him, he gave a small start before greeting them cheerfully as they spelled out a belated birthday wish. Once he thanked them, they scrambled their order and spelled out something else that Harry was quick to jot down in his sketch book; he also took a couple pictures of them as they patiently hovered in front of him, so he could refer to it later in case he miscopied the message. The unown then rearranged themselves one last time for him, which he was also quick to capture on film, before they vanished from sight. Once they were gone, he walked over to the corner where the fire Pokémon had been digging and lifted out one of the small stone boxes that they had unearthed.

Inside the box were hundreds or maybe thousands of thin one-inch stone squares, each one carved with the image of a single unown. Calvin normally would have protested removing the precious artifact with its hidden gold mine of rarely-seen relics, except for the fact that the unown had ordered Harry to take the box (as their final visual order had stated). It helped that there were at least four more identical boxes down in the hole that the Pokémon had dug in the tunnel. One box vanishing without a trace wouldn't detract from the find of the century, after all.

A half hour after they exited the ruins, the entire place was swarming with reporters, researchers, and archeologists eager to view the newly discovered artifacts. Harry discreetly slipped away in the commotion with his box of stone tiles securely hidden inside his daypack. Unknown to Harry was the knowledge that one of the wild unown, which was shaped like an exclamation point, had stowed away in his backpack at the same time. This also happened to be the same unown that Harry had ran his hand over on his sixth birthday; it had been secretly waiting for him to return ever since that long ago day.

That night they made arrangements to catch a flight on one of the research helicopters over to Eterna City in the morning, where Ash would be meeting up with Professor Rowan and Lucas. Before going to bed, Harry reorganized their packs once more to secure the newly acquired box of stone letter tiles. He also wrapped his recipe sketch book up in a plastic bag to protect it from moisture before tucking it in with the box, along with his numerous packets of gathered seeds.

Bright and early the next morning, the large group, plus the undiscovered stowaway, piled into the roomy helicopter, and in just a few hours they were landing at the edge of the Eterna Forest just outside of Eterna City. As they sorted out their luggage, one of the male eevee showed a great deal of interest in the cool darkness of the forest. When Harry asked Ash about it, his dad reminded him that one of the two evolution stones known to effect eevee evolution was located deep within the forest. Ash also told Harry that if he wanted, he was welcome to spend the afternoon exploring the forest in order to take a closer look at the stone if he wished to encourage the eevee that had shown interest to evolve.

After lunch, leaving Ash and Pikachu to keep an eye on the majority of his Pokémon, Harry rode Dancer into the forest while he had Splash wrapped around his waist and held the curious male kit on his lap. He'd been inside the Eterna Forest several times, he and Ash had visited the thriving Pokémon habitat every time they had visited Sinnoh in the past, but this was the first time he'd been virtually alone. He wasn't frightened of the forest but the lack of company did make him feel significantly insignificant as the near silence of the forest pressed in on him from all sides.

To make the trek go faster, he slipped down off Dancer's back after several minutes and began his usual berry, nut, and seed gathering as they trotted off towards the farthest corner of the forest. Harry had long ago noted that the berries and nuts in this forest tended to grow larger as the forest itself was far lusher than many of the other forests and most of the grasslands they traveled through and was curious to know if their seeds would produce the superior fruits even if planted in different environments. As they moved steadily through the forest their small group also passed by many wild bug and bird Pokémon but thankfully the curious and somewhat shy creatures did not attack them.

When they reached their destination, the male eevee jumped down from Dancer's back and climbed on top of the moss covered rock. Not long after he'd sat down, the rock began to glow a soft green as tendrils of green light swirled up around the tiny fox-cat. His transformation was far different then Jesters, in that his fur seemed to collapse in on itself as it faded to a pale cream color, except for four light brown socks that covered his paws. His ears and tail changed shape too, becoming flatter and more leaf like as they slowly turned green in color. Lastly, he nearly tripled in size so that he now stood close to three feet tall at the shoulders and developed a few stray green locks of fur where his neck rough used to be; there was even a long, thick bit of green fur that stuck straight up over his forehead, making it look like he had a Mohawk. And unlike Jester's eyes, which had turned the dark black of obsidian, this male's eyes changed to a warm medium brown.

Thanks to Ash's explanations back after Jester's evolution coupled with a few hours researching the eevee evolutions in Ash's PokéDex, Harry recognized this particular evolution of eevee as leafeon. In tribute to the odd green lock of hair on his head, Harry named him Moe, short for Mohawk. The return trip back to Eterna City took nearly twice as long as the trip to the stone and that was only because Moe was determined to chase each and every bug Pokémon they came across (the boisterous Pokémon now too large for Harry to carry him).

The remaining eevee crowded around the newly named Moe, the smaller fox-cats excited by the changes in their brother. The only one that didn't rush up to the new leafeon was Jester which seemed to suit the new grass type Pokémon just fine as he was instinctively leery of all fire types. Eventually, the two evolved fox-cats recalled that they were litter mates and quickly forgot about their new incompatible classification type as they romped with their much smaller siblings. Trickster happily joined in the fun while Harry sat off to one side watching the group as he periodically as he sketched Moe's new form.

Two days later, they caught the first flight to Snowpoint City, where Ash needed to replace some recording equipment out near Lake Acruity that had been damaged in a recent ice storm. While they on their way out of town, father and son ran into Dawn, an old friend of Ash's that he'd traveled around Sinnoh with when he was younger. Harry had met her several years earlier and had even given the outgoing coordinator a couple sketches he'd drawn of her buneary and piplup. Dawn ended up joining Ash and Harry on their journey out to the lake and Harry couldn't help but laugh when the young woman brought up the bike that Ash and Pikachu had ruined when they'd first met may many years earlier. The funniest part was the fact that Ash had also ruined Misty's bike when he first met her and later May's bike as well.

After spending a week hiking out to the lake through two snow storms and two more days spent repairing and replacing the ruined equipment, Ash led the way south down route two-seventeen after one of the two female eevee kits kept trying to sneak off. The extra two day journey was well worth it when they reached the ice-covered stone that sat in a snow filled clearing off the main road and the three humans witnessed the dainty's eevee's transformation into glaceon.

Her fur, like Moe's, was shorter than Jester's, but pale blue in color. She had darker blue socks on her feet, the tip of her tail, on the diamond-shaped patch on her back, and the inside of her now-diamond-shaped ears. Her neck ruff disappeared completely and instead grew what looked like dark blue ponytails and bangs that framed her face. When she finished evolving she stood slightly taller than Jester but still several inches shorter than Moe and her eyes glittered like frozen chips of blue ice. Her fur was slightly cold to the touch, and when she was frightened or angry it turned stiff, like needles. Her body was very graceful and dainty, her stance more cat-like than fox-like now. Harry named her Frost because of the way her fur now glittered in the sunlight.

They all returned to Snowpoint after that where Ash and Harry parted ways with Dawn, who was on her way home to Twinleaf Town. The Ketchums next two stops were Lake Valor and Lake Verity respectfully. At both locations Ash checked the field equipment for weather damage while Harry collected data from the devices and entered it into the laptop Ash had picked up a few years earlier. After that they jumped from city to city to check in with various researchers and leave instructions on who to contact in the event of equipment failures, data collection, and emergencies.

By the middle of December they were finished, thanks in part to the constant access to the helicopters instead of traveling by foot or boat most of the time like they had in the past. Another long flight back to Kanto had them home in time to do some last minute Christmas shopping before the holidays. On Christmas day, two of the male eevee broke into the box of evolution stones while Harry was downstairs opening presents with Ash. The two troublesome kits then trotted into the room smugly as they ate their respective stones and went through their evolutions right in the house.

The first male's fur changed to bright yellow, with his neck ruff staying a pale cream color, and fluffed out wildly with static electricity. He doubled in size so that he was of a similar height to Jester and his eyes changed to a dark purple, as did the inside of his long ears. Harry nervously backed away from the newly evolved jolteon, old memories of being shocked by Pikachu and an echo of remembered pain flashing through his mind as he took note of the sparks that danced along the electric fox-cat's fur.

The other male's transformation was the most drastic out of all the eevee evolutions. His fur had disappeared altogether while his skin turned a medium blue in color as it thickened and developed tiny round scales all over his body. His ears moved from the top of his head down to the side and changed into fin-like structures that were edged in dark blue on the top while the inner ears became thin membranes of ivory colored skin that were divided into three sections each. He also grew a third fin on the top of his head that looked very similar to his ear fins while his neck ruff turned into a forth fin that encircled his neck.

Starting just below the neck-ruff-turned-fin was a stiff ridge that ran down the length of his spine where it ended at the base of his new fish tail, where it split into two sections; much like a whale or dolphin's tale. Like Moe, the newly evolved vaporeon stood just shy of three feet tall at the shoulder, and like Frost, his eyes turned blue though his were much deeper and darker shade of blue than the ice fox-cat's eyes.

After spending several minutes getting comfortable with the electric fox-cat's form, Harry named the new jolteon Spark before naming the vaporeon Riptide, their names slightly reflective of the trouble they caused by their unexpected transformations. That left only two remaining eevee unchanged, one male and one female, that seemed awfully and suspiciously content to remain in eevee form. Harry wondered if that was because they were content to remain in their pre-evolutionary stage, if they were waiting for some special sign, or if they hadn't yet figured out which of the possible evolutions they desired to end up in.

Thankfully, the last six days of the old year passed without further incidents instigated by any of the four-legged pranksters.

* * *

><p><strong>AN 12-13-12:<strong>_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._


	30. Final Preparations

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><em><span>Chapter 30: Final Preparations<span>_

_January 2014 to July 2014  
>Ketchum Cottage, Viridian City<br>Kanto Region_

Harry spent the rest of that winter processing and cataloging the many berry and grass seeds he'd gathered over the last eight months. The dried nuts were also sorted and packaged into airtight plastic bags for easy transportation. The seeds, dried stems, flowers, roots, leaves, and bulbs for various herbs and other medicinal plants that he had gathered during and after his lessons with Hypno were packaged separately and stored with the crystal bottles of minerals that Hypno had helped Harry gather and grind into powder. All of these items were then stored in airtight boxes that were placed in the upper left hand corner of the small cart that Ash purchased to haul the belongings they were taking with them. It was when he went to place the stone box full of ancient stone tiles into the cart beside the sealed boxes holding his harvests that Harry discovered the stowaway unown.

Ash joked about Harry being unable to go anywhere without having yet another Pokémon follow him home, as Harry offered the odd Pokémon food and water. Though the strange creature didn't seem to have a visible mouth, it managed to eat and drink somehow; as the food and water provided slowly vanished. Once the unown was settled, Harry continued to gather those items he knew he'd be taking and added them to the growing stacks of equipment and supplies in the cart.

While Harry packed their belongings and supplies for the upcoming departure, Ash flew all over Kanto and Johto giving out last minute instructions and double-checking remote field equipment for damage. He made it a point to return home every few days in the event that Harry needed something but there were times when he was gone for a week or longer as his flights were greatly restricted by winter storms. Harry didn't mind, because he knew how important it was for Ash to have everything taken care of before they left; in the event that they were unable to ever return. It also helped that Delia had come up to Viridian to help with preparations and to spend as much time as she could with Harry.

By spring, their house was mostly packed up, aside from their clothes and Ash's research equipment. Those items that were being placed into storage were loaded up in a moving van and sent to Delia's house in Pallet town, where they'd be stored in Ash's old room until they knew whether or not they would be able to return or at least visit. The research and lab equipment would be leased to one of Ash's assistants, along with the house.

At the end of spring, Ash purchased six months worth of healing potions, antidotes, and other healing creams and medications for the Pokémon in case there were injuries that needed treatment once they left this world. He also purchased several large five gallon water jugs so they could make sure they had plenty of fresh water with them when they first arrived. Canned and dried foods, for both themselves and the Pokémon, were also added to the inventory. The more perishable foods would be purchased just before they left.

Camping supplies, including two brand new tents, were packed into the cart next to the brand new computer and photography equipment that Ash insisted they needed to take with them. That wasn't counting the two large camera bags; one holding Ash's favorite top-of-the-line camera and various lenses and accessories while the second one was packed full of extra film, extra batteries, and cleaning equipment. Next to be packed into the cart were a handful of boxes containing blankets, towels, a couple of extra sleeping bags, and none-essential household items they might need once they were settled on the other side. There were four suitcases full of clothes, two for each of them, holding all of their winter, formal, and other seasonal extras that they wouldn't need over the next couple of weeks.

Emergency supplies were placed right at the back of the cart where they would be within easy reach. This included an extensive first aid kit, several boxes of flares, a hand full of fire-starting kits (which mainly consisted of wax-coated kindling, plastic-wrapped bunches of dried grasses and unprocessed cotton to be used as tender, and several boxes of waterproof matches), boxes of bandaids, several dozen rolls of gauze, and several bottles of various common over-the-counter medications for illnesses such as colds, flues, fevers, indigestion, and stomach aches. There were even a couple of bottles of prescription antibiotics that they had gotten by special prescriptions for from the hospital in the event they were injured and unable to get to a hospital where they were going.

They didn't know if the money from their world would be worth anything in Harry's world, but on the off-chance it was, they withdrew several thousand dollars from their accounts and hid the cash in the first aid kit (at the very bottom under everything else) along with their two boxes of gemstones. At the same time they'd added Delia's name to both of the accounts so that she could withdraw money in case of an emergency.

Harry talked Ash into purchasing a variety of fruit and vegetable seeds from the gardening store in addition to some of the domestic grass seeds that a few of the Pokémon sometimes ate. Grain seeds, such as wheat, oat, rye, and barley, were also purchased in small bulk, though Ash was certain there'd be similar grains available in Harry's home world. Harry's argument, though, was that there was no guarantee that they would end up near a city or what kind of time-frame it would be before they could purchase what they needed. Ash found he couldn't argue with that logic, though he had been more than a bit skeptical at the time.

Leashes, harnesses, and leather packs were purchased for each of the Pokémon that would be traveling with them. This included the six that Ash intended to bring with him; not counting Pikachu, who would also be going. That brought the total number of Pokémon they would be taking up to nineteen, twenty if you counted the stowaway unown but they weren't sure if that particular Pokémon would follow them through the door.

The only unreasonable thing Harry wanted to take with him was a large trunk of art supplies he'd been gathering since the end of winter. The wooden trunk was four feet long, two feet wide, and two and a half feet deep. Inside there were two dozen canvases in four different sizes, twenty boxes of graphite pencils, thirty prepackaged sets of ten paint brushes, several boxes of pastels and charcoals, close to fifty blank sketch books in two sizes, and an untold number of acrylic paints in a rainbow of colors. There were also several packs of a couple of different types of erasers, a pair of folding easels, a couple of painter's pallets, a set of chisels and a hammer, one large bag of powered clay, bottles of gloss finish, and an unopened box of crayons that he'd packed in there as well.

That wasn't even taking into consideration the drawing supplies Harry had already packed in the boxes of things he was taking or those he always kept in his backpack where they could be easily reached while traveling. Ash loved the fact that Harry had a hobby that he both enjoyed and excelled at; he just wished his son wouldn't go so overboard sometimes (not that he wasn't guilty of the same considering just how much computer and camera equipment he'd be taking). In the end, Ash didn't make much of a fuss over the frivolous supplies because he knew art was the one thing Harry loved most; not including family, friends, and his Pokémon (whom he thought of in terms of friends and family). It helped that Harry had pointed out that Ash was taking his computer and photography equipment, so it was only fair that he took his art equipment; there was no point in arguing the differences between the two.

By midsummer, just around a month and a half before Harry's seventeenth birthday, the packed cart was sitting in the middle of the living room waiting for just a few last minute items; such as the fresh food they were taking. Harry had originally wanted to return to Berry Meadow and find the tree that had held the door he'd come through but that was before the trip to the Solaceon Ruins and the advice of Hypno to do as the unown suggested. His next choice would have been putting the new door in his room where it would not be as noticeable; unfortunately, the cart wouldn't fit through the hallway, and neither of them wanted to leave all of their supplies behind. The most logical place to draw the new door, then, was in the living room, as the cart had easily fit through the sliding glass door that led outside to the backyard.

Now, Harry just had to draw the door.

* * *

><p><em>Friday Afternoon, June 07, 1991<br>Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts Castle  
>Scotland<em>

Albus Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and popped a sherbet lemon into his mouth as he hummed a jaunty tune under his breath. It was just after four in the afternoon, and after nearly ten months of disgusting and annoying teenagers polluting the halls of his beloved castle, he finally had the ancient school all to himself once more. Even his fellow colleagues had departed just a few hours earlier; well except for Filch who would have to spend the entire summer cleaning the castle from top to bottom in preparation for the next school year and Hagrid who was required to take care of the grounds and make sure Pomona Sprout's plants in the green houses were fed and watered regularly.

Still, compared to the one thousand sweating bodies that filled the castle with noise and foul body odors during the school term, the castle was now virtually deserted. Even the ghosts and resident poltergeist had vanished off to wherever it was they went once the students left the premises. It was nice and this just happened to be Dumbledore's favorite time of year.

_And what wonderful summers I have spent in this very room over these last five years_, Dumbledore thought to himself as he crunched the sherbet lemon in his mouth to mush before swallowing. Depositing another of the sweet yet sour candies in his mouth, Dumbledore took the time to appreciate all he had done over the last several years; since he'd created the Potter Clone to replace the now (in his mind) dead boy.

Twice each year, Dumbledore would deliver upgraded models of the boy clone to Number Four Privet Drive, each model being just a little taller and just a touch more efficient then the previous ones. The charms he applied to the body of the clone and the inner magical heart were refined and improved upon each time he adjusted the body. In fact, the clone had been perfected to the point where it gave off no magical discharge (unless it was given the command to do so), it could perform well over a thousand different chores and tasks (though the Dursley's only ordered it to perform basic household chores such as cooking, cleaning, and gardening), it had the capacity to speak (but this function was disabled when the clone spent time in the muggle world), and could perform simple spells realistically (Albus had tested this function himself) using the ambient magic it collected and converted into energy. It would never perform overly complex spells and couldn't really think for itself but it would easily be able to pass itself off as a real, if some what dimwitted, child.

The real test of his magical prowess and genius would come this September, when the Potter Clone finally joined the magical community as he attended Hogwarts. Albus would visit the Dursleys later this month in order to tweak the latest clone one last time – giving the sophisticated magical machine the personality of the proverbial Gryffindor. In other words, the clone would be somewhat dense, overwhelmingly self-righteous, foolishly brave to the point of being near suicidal, and completely self-absorbed with just a touch of humbleness, so as to be likeable to certain, preselected children his age (it would never do to have the Boy Hero be seen making friends with the 'wrong' sort after all, even if he was just a clone). He could add angst and drama to the personality later; now he needed the clone to be happy and excited at being back in the magical world.

He had the clone's introduction to the world all planned out. The magical register would create the initial envelope addressed to Harry Potter and it would be sent out into the world where it would end up untouched and unopened due to the child's death some five years earlier. Then, Dumbledore would torment Harry's 'Muggle Relatives' with hundreds or maybe thousands of copies he made of the original letter until they fled their home in fear, at which point Dumbledore would go in and adjust the wards of the property once more while Hagrid hunted down the Dursleys and the Potter clone to deliver the final letter.

Hagrid would then take the clone to Gringotts, where he would pull a large sum of money out of the Potter trust vault with which to purchase the standard first year school supplies for the clone. The goblins would then assume all subsequent withdrawals were being made by the Potter brat himself or a small group of trusted adults that 'Harry' would grant vault access to; namely Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape, Delores Umbridge (who was Dumbledore's spy in the ministry) and Rubeus Hagrid. After Hogwarts, Dumbledore would then marry the clone off to the Weasley's whiny little daughter before killing the Potter Clone in an epic battle with the eventually restored Voldemort (Tom Riddle).

As a widow then, the Weasley twat could give Albus access to the rest of the Potter fortune before following her husband in death. If the goblins didn't want to work it that way, because there must be an heir, then Dumbledore would create an heir by using a fertility potion mixed with infant Harry's blood and a single dose of Polyjuice Potion to impregnate the Weasley brat himself. Once he had access to the vaults, he could dispose of the unwanted child and transfer the artifacts and money out of Gringotts' control so there would be no chance for them to discover his duplicity.

During the seven years between now and the Final Victory (as Dumbledore labeled it in his own mind), he could use the unwarranted fame of Harry Potter's name to dredge up the political support he needed to get several laws repealed and another dozen new laws voted into being. Pairing his own family name (which carried great weight after all of his 'supposed' accomplishments) with that of the miraculous Boy-Who-Lived would carry far more weight than the Dumbledore name alone; especially if 'the boy' was seen speaking out in favor of Dumbledore's various plans and laws before his ultimate death.

Dumbledore was brought abruptly back into the here and now as he reached into his tin of muggle sweets for another sherbet lemon only to come up empty. He'd finished off the entire tin of candies while he was daydreaming of things to come. Chuckling to himself, Dumbledore tossed the empty container to the rubbish bin and pulled another unopened one out from the top drawer of his desk. As he stuffed yet another of the yellow goodies into his mouth he couldn't resist the sinister chuckle that escaped him.

His greatest achievement to date, in his mind, was finally getting one over on the great and 'immortal' Nicholas Flamel. The Flamels were actually Harry's living many times great-grandparents, and if not for Dumbledore's crafty manipulations of Charlus Potter and later James Potter, they would have taken custody of the young Potter immediately after the death of James and Lily Potter. Dumbledore's blood based Fidelius Charms (one in regards to the Potter child's name, one on the child's original magical signature, and one in regards to the 'death' of the brat five years earlier; all three keyed to the boy's blood) effectively hid the Flamels last living grandson from them.

There had been a brief moment (just after the monitors had indicated the boy had died) when he suddenly recalled the family connections between the Potters and the Flamels, that he feared Nicholas had broken those first two secrets. Albus's fears had been laid to rest before he'd even had a chance to worry though when the monitors indicated Harry's death. Now, Nicholas was obviously aware that he had a grandchild because the man had access to a multitude of family records, a self-updating family tapestry, and other important magical documents; the man had even sent Albus numerous letters demanding that the child be handed over to him (much as he had when first Charlus and then James had been orphaned). But there was really nothing the man could do so long as the aforementioned information hidden by the altered Fidelius Charms was securely locked inside of Dumbledore.

And now that the Potter 'boy' was due to arrive for training, Dumbledore could blackmail Flamel into sending one of his precious stones and the research into how to make more of them to him in exchange for Dumbledore allowing his grandson to continue living unharmed under his protection. It would all be a fabricated lie, of course, but the end result would be that Dumbledore would finally get his hands on a piece of the fabled Philosopher's Stone. Once he had that, there would be nothing and no one standing in the way of his eternal greatness.

Humming a triumphant march under his breath, Dumbledore rose to his feet and began gathering the items he would need to take with him in a week or two to upgrade the Potter Clone's personality. These items included precious and semi-precious stones linked to various emotions, malleable metals that would be integrated into the skin of the clone's body to strengthen the clone's outer casing and prevent minor damage, as well as a magical reservoir that would hold and store large amounts of internalized ambient magic that would help maintain the illusion that the clone could perform magic.

He also had a set of seven gold-encased diamond ward stones that had been etched with the power-collecting runes so he could upgrade the currently weak wards at Privet Drive. One stone would be buried under the center of the house, one placed in the boy's former room beneath the stairs, one attached to the roof over the center of the house and one at each corner of the outer edge of the property to ensure that the ward encompassed the entire house and both yards. It would also strengthen the ward enough so that it would pull all ambient magic from the surroundings within a hundred-mile radius of the exact center of the house.

Additionally, he was adding a stabilizing ward to prevent the amount of magic drawn into the shield from fluctuating too drastically in either direction (too much or too little of a pull) and installing several 'back up batteries' in the boy's cupboard to store the magic gathered during the year when the clone was at Hogwarts. He was tempted to leave one of the older clones with the Dursleys during the course of the year, negating the need to change any of the wards but feared that would be tempting fate. The last thing he needed was for Harry Potter to be found sitting at home at the same time he was supposedly sleeping in History of Magic, after all.

Soon… very soon… everything would be as it should…

If only Dumbledore had any idea of how horribly wrong his plans would start to go in less then a month's time; he might have been better prepared to deal with the inevitable and chaotic fallout.

* * *

><p><strong>Notes:<strong> _By request, I have put together a complete list of Harry's Pokémon. I've also provided a few fun facts about them and listed them in the order that they bonded to Harry. _

No. Name (Nickname) – (1st evolution) current evolution, gender, approx. age (years bonded)

01 Trickster – (vulpix) ninetales, male, 11 ¾ (11 ½)  
>02 Dancer – (ponyta) ponyta, female, 11 (11)<br>03 Splash – (dratini) dratini, male, 10 ½ (10 ½)  
>04 Dave – (delibird) delibird, male, unknown* (9 ¼)<br>05 Unnamed – (trapinch) trapinch, male, unknown* (8 ¾)  
>06 Jester – (eevee) flareon, male, 6 (6)<br>07 Mohawk (Moe) – (eevee) leafeon, male, 6 (6)  
>08 Frost – (eevee) glaceon, female, 6 (6)<br>09 Spark – (eevee) jolteon, male, 6 (6)  
>10 Riptide – (eevee) vaporeon, male, 6 (6)<br>11 Unnamed – (eevee) eevee, female, 6 (6)  
>12 Unnamed – (eevee) eevee, male, 6 (6)<br>13 Unnamed – (N/A) unown, no gender, unknown* (N/A) _Stowaway_

* The delibird was probably fairly young, possibly less than 1 yr and at most 2, when they first encountered it on the Ice Path; hence one of the reasons it was willing to tag alone. The trapinch would have at least been 5 yrs but could have been as old as 20 when they pulled him out from the rock fall (which makes him the oldest of all Harry's bonded Pokémon); I figure that the dragon species are fairly long lived give how high their levels are before they reach their final evolutionary stage. The stowaway unown, on the other hand, I see as being centuries old though exactly how many I couldn't saw.

* * *

><p><strong>AN 12-13-12:<strong>_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._


	31. Redrawing the Door

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><em><span>Chapter 31: Redrawing the Door<span>_

_Friday Morning, June 20, 2014  
>Ketchum Cottage, Viridian City<br>Kanto Region_

Harry Ketchum stood in front of the east wall of the living room staring at the blank section where he had decided to draw the set of double-doors that were supposed to take him and his adopted father to his former world. He hadn't actually started drawing the doors yet because he really didn't want to go back to that horrible world. Letting out a depressed sigh, Harry stepped up onto the step ladder in front of the wall carrying a measuring tape, a level, a drafting compass, and a T-square and began plotting out the basic dimensions of the doors.

Once he had a rough guide, he stepped down to gather up a couple of graphite pencils, an eraser, and a pencil sharpener, a yard stick and climbed back up. He then began sketching out the outer frame of the door onto the pale tan walls using the yard stick to keep his lines straight. Sure, he could have saved himself a bit of work if he'd just winged the doors but Hypno had specifically told him that the more realistic the door appeared, the easier the journey between worlds would be; so he set out right from the start to design the most realistic set of doors he could.

Once the shape of the large set of double doors had been lightly penciled into place, Harry began adding small details, such as the handles, hinges, and the grain of the wood. It was tedious work that took him nearly an entire day as he added each line one at a time in a precise order. When he had finished the rough-draft of the door, his hand was so stiff and sore that he had to soak it in ice water off and on for all night before he could hold a pencil properly again. The next step was to remove any mistakes, and there were a few of them to be found, and clean up the lines he knew would become part of the finished doors. This took him two days as he meticulously darkened the prominent lines at the same time to make them stand out just a touch more.

Another couple of days' rest, spent grooming and playing outside with his Pokémon, and he was ready to move on to the next step; outlining the door with his black crayon. He'd decided that he'd only use the crayon to draw the basic outer lines like he had on the original door that had brought him to this world, instead of using it to create all of the little details needed to make the double doors look realistic. Doing it that way would also allow Harry to save enough of the crayon to draw at least one or two more doors in addition to the one he was currently working on. This took him five days to complete as drawing with this crayon required three times more effort than drawing with a regular crayon did and he took frequent breaks to rest his hand.

Ten days later he began painting the doors with his acrylic paints, using several shades of browns to create the tone and visible texture of the door. He next added touches of gray, black, and white to give the illusion of shadows and depth. That part of the process took another five days, after which he left the paint to dry for another five days to prevent smears from marring the surface.

Pulling out a set of smaller brushes, Harry went back over the doors and adds more details to the image, giving the doors more character and a more lifelike appearance. It only took him three days that time, and he let it dry for another two before he painted a clear coat of varnish over the finished drawing to protect the paint from becoming damaged in the event that something was knocked into it or one of the Pokémon ran their claws over it. He left the protective coat to dry for five days, allowing the varnish to cure as it dried completely.

Ash forced Harry to take the next week off from working on the doors, sending him to the store several times to purchase the fresh food and other perishables that they hadn't been able to pack during earlier preparations. Once those had been purchased, the cart needed to be emptied and reorganized so that all of the supplies would be better fitted into the limited space available. While moving things back into place, Harry came across the stone container filled with the minuscule unown-letter tiles. As soon as he lifted the heavy box into his hands, his mind finally drew the connection between the commands of the wild unown and the box of tiled letters shaped like unowns.

Digging around inside the box, he pulled out the handful of letters he would need before sealing the box shut and tucking it into place among the supplies. As he placed the last few items back in the cart, he took a minute to pull a tube of adhesive out of his art supply trunk and slipped it into his pocket beside the tiles. Later that night, once the cart has been packed to Ash's satisfaction, Harry took the tiles and the glue out of his pocket and he carefully glued each tile into place across each door, about a third of the way down from the top edge. The letters, when in place, spelled out the strange, meaningless word: GRINGOTTS in the stylized shapes of the unown on each door. The doors looked foreign now, the letters adding a mystical dimension to the door that it had been previously lacking. There was nothing left to do now but wait for the magic of the door to activate.

Over the next ten days Ash would catch Harry staring at the doors throughout the day, frequently running his hands over the surfaces as if he expected the doors to spring open at his touch. He worried over his son's behavior but realized that there was really nothing he could do to ease his son's growing discomfort. Discomfort that he himself felt every time he looked at the doors that were supposed to take them from everything they knew and loved.

As the clock struck midnight on the evening of July thirtieth, the chimes rang out loudly as they announced the coming of the new day. As the last tone died, the thin lines of the doors that had been drawn with the strange magical crayon began to glow the color of freshly spilt blood. In the very center of the doors, where the individual doors pressed together below the dual words, a bloody hand print formed across both doors. As the blood of the hand print dried in place, the doors shivered and shimmered in an eerie blue light. Mere minutes after the final stroke of midnight had been called out by the large clock in the corner, a very real set of double doors stood where once a painted pair of doors had been.

The way home had been opened.

* * *

><p><em>Tuesday Night, July 30, 1991 &amp;<br>Wednesday Morning, July 31, 1991  
>Gringotts Bank, Diagon Alley<br>London, England_

On the flip side of the universe, in the world of wizards and muggles, smack dab in the middle of one of the largest magical shopping centers hidden deep in the heart of London, in the middle of the long unadorned western wall of the venerable fortress known as Gringotts, an enormous set of doors shimmered into existence at the stroke of midnight on the cusp of July thirtieth and thirty-first of the year nineteen-ninety-one.

The goblin guards, who monitored the empty lobby on the look out for possible thieves attempting to sneak in during the off hours, immediately noticed the sudden formation of the new doors on a previously unmarred section of the bank's wall. The captain of the guard, a grizzled old goblin by the name of Gutblade, took one look at the obviously magical door and sent his fastest guard to wake the bank's highest ranked manager, Ragnok. He sent a second runner down into the caverns to call reinforcements on the off-chance that some dark wizard was attempting to attack the bank with the intent of stealing from the vaults below.

While the rest of the on duty guards waited for Ragnok and additional warriors to arrive, they spread out through the lobby to guard key entry and exit points on the off chance that the newly appeared doors were just a means of distracting the goblins while the thief or thieves entered from another point. Ten minutes after the alarm had been sent the lobby was flooded with a thousand warrior goblins armed to the teeth. Five hundred of those warriors were spread out in a semicircle five rows deep in front of the new doors while the rest of them were sent throughout the building to guard other key points.

Unseen, deep in the caverns below the bank's lobby, several thousand more goblin soldiers had spread themselves along the winding corridors of vaults in groups of tens and twenties. These soldiers would fight to the death to prevent those same vaults from being breached by any being that dared entered their hallowed halls during the night.

When an irate Ragnok appeared in the lobby carrying his ancient battle-axe, the warriors in the hall parted effortlessly to allow the powerful goblin to pass through their ranks. The manager took one look at the doors and barked out several orders to the goblins nearest the doors; the goblins immediately complied, stepping back away from the doors so that anyone walking through the door would not be obstructed from view by a goblin body. The fearless leader of the Gringotts' goblins then approached the doors and began performing magical scans in an effort to determine the intentions behind the magic used to create them.

Unable to read the magic imbued within the doors, Ragnok then attempted to open the doors with a burst of goblin magic. When that didn't work, the goblin leader bravely placed his hands upon the handles of the doors and attempted to open them manually. The doors didn't budge; they were locked both magically and physically from the other side. Confused, and highly irritated because of it, Ragnok ordered the guards to stand their ground until someone attempted to use the doors. When that person or persons stepped into the bank's lobby, they were to be taken immediately into custody for questioning. Until that happened, though, the bank would remain on high alert and the doors would be barred.

The witches and wizards of the world would be most upset at the disruption of service and money would be lost but the goblins would not chance giving the invaders a chance of escaping into the normal large crowds that filled the lobby during banking hours. Commands given, the irate manager stalked out of the room with orders to fetch him if the doors showed any sign of opening. It was looking to be a long day and the sun hadn't even touched the horizon yet.

At five o'clock that morning, the doors began shuddering as the magic imbued within them swelled to bursting. A runner was sent to Ragnok to let him know something was finally happening. All around the lobby, the fierce goblin warriors unsheathed swords, unhooked battles axes, and angled razor sharp spears into the ready position as their blood began to sing with the thrill of an anticipated battle.

Seconds before Ragnok entered the large hall for the second time that morning, blinding blue light bled from the seams of the double doors that had appeared just five hours earlier. As the highly respected and overly aggressive manager entered the lobby from one of the many marbled hallways that led to the upper levels of the bank, the strange doors slammed open with enough force to rock the very foundations of the bank. Miles below the surface, the chained dragons (the majority of them blind from living an untold number years in absolute darkness) quaked and quailed under the magically induced tremors as their goblin handlers were thrown from their feet.

Smoke billowed forth from the now opened doors, distorting the bright light that briefly blinded the goblins from the other side. Through the haze the goblins closest to the light cried out that they could make out the outlines of several creatures moving on the other side of the door. Grim determination filled all of those present as Ragnok called out for them to hold steady and wait for the invaders to step inside of the bank.

And now, they waited.

* * *

><p><em>Thursday Morning, July 31, 2014<br>Ketchum Cottage, Viridian City  
>Kanto Region<em>

At the Ketchum residence, in Viridian City, the newly formed doors weren't noticed until just after breakfast, at about eight in the morning, when Harry approached them to do his customary inspection. He was just reaching up to run his hands over the painted doors when he noticed the handles were sticking out away from the door and were made from silver instead of simply painted to look like silver. The second thing he noticed was the bloody hand print that connected the two doors in the center where they met.

"Dad!"

Ash looked up when he heard his son call him, and immediately saw what had Harry so riled. The previously realistic painting of double doors was now an actual set of double doors leading to some distant unknown world that had treated his son cruelly. Anger, worry, and resignation filled Ash as he ordered Harry to start getting ready to leave. Harry looked for a moment like he wanted to rebel against the order, he was practically an adult now as today was his seventeenth birthday, but after a few tense seconds he reluctantly complied and began checking the straps on the cart's harness. Once he was certain the gear was in working order, he went out into the back yard and called Dancer in, so he could buckle the strong fire horse into the harness.

While Harry was harnessing Dancer to the cart, Ash packed all the last-minute items into their packs and carried them into the living room, where he set them down next to the magical doors. He then grabbed the riding blanket Harry had made for Dancer's back and settled it into place, after giving the mare an affectionate pat on the neck. Ash subsequently double checked the pokéballs of the Pokémon he'd decided to take with him through the gate to make sure they were all in order. The long time Pokémon trainer had considered bringing more of his Pokémon friends with him but since he wasn't certain what they would find on the other side he'd decided it was best to only bring a select few. Those Pokémon he wouldn't be taking with him were left in the capable hands of Brock with the exception of the few of the more sensitive ones he'd left to watch over his mother.

By this time, an hour had passed since Harry discovered the activated doors. The smaller Pokémon that would be going, such as Dave, the two remaining eevee, and the trapinch were carefully lifted up into the back of the cart where they made themselves comfortable. Splash, Riptide, and Frost also joined those Pokémon in the cart, while Spark, Trickster, Moe, and Jester would be walking alongside it. Pikachu would, of course, be riding on Ash's shoulder as usual, as Ash intended to lead the way through the doors. Harry, on the other hand, had been told he would be riding Dancer as they traveled through the gateway – this would insure that Harry would remain with the majority of his Pokémon and their belongings in the event that those walking were separated from the cart.

It was another hour before everyone was ready to go. Ash had shouldered his backpack and settled Harry's pack into the cart so it wouldn't interfere with Dancer's movement through the gate. Harry was wearing his daypack though, which carried all of the important documents they might need once they made it through to the other side. Ash was just hanging up the phone; he'd called home to his mother to let her know it was time for them to go. Harry had been too distraught to say goodbye again, for he and Delia had exchanged an emotional farewell just a few days earlier. The only thing left to do was to actually go through the doors.

Resigned to his fate, Harry gave his father a tight hug, opened the doors as wide as they would go, and climbed up onto Dancer's back, where he took a moment to settle himself in a comfortable position. Ash stepped up beside the nervous fire horse and patted Harry on the leg as the two of them stared into the liquid blue light that covered the open doorway giving them a distorted view of the darkness on the other side. Pikachu scrambled up onto Ash's shoulder and muttered out a nervous, 'pika, pika, pika' as Ash took a deep breath and stepped through the strange light.

Dancer gave a sharp whinny as Trickster, Jester, Moe, and Spark trotted unhesitatingly after Ash before she lurched after them with the cart in tow. As the back half of the horse-drawn cart vanished into the darkness, the magical doors slammed shut with explosive force as the long-hidden and rarely seen exclamation shaped unown appeared and sealed the doors shut to prevent any one else from following Ash and Harry through the portal. The strange psychic Pokémon then slipped through the doors, as if they were nothing more than an illusion, to follow the others.

Miles to the south, alone in a large two story house filled with storage boxes, Delia Ketchum cried herself to sleep on the couch as she hung up the phone. Ash had just called her to let her know they were going and to tell her that he and Harry loved her in the event that they were unable to return. She had considered going with her boys but had been talked out of it by a worried Ash, who didn't know what kind of trouble they would be walking into on the other side of the gateway.

She had tried to put on a brave front, as she always did just before Ash took off on yet another journey but she feared she'd failed this time. Her tears had started falling long before the door had activated; back when Harry and Ash had come to spend a day or two with her about a week earlier. Saying goodbye to Ash was always a tearful affair; saying goodbye to her adopted grandson (knowing he was going back to the cruel world he'd fled twelve years earlier) was breaking her heart into a million pieces.

Worse yet, since Professor Oak had passed away, Delia had no one she could turn to for some cheering-up. Samuel Oak had been a close friend and even more like a father to her throughout the years she'd known him, and now that he was gone she felt cast adrift with the knowledge that she was truly alone in the world. Sure, Ash had left Swellow, Bayleef, and Torkoal with her for company but as affectionate as the Pokémon were they didn't fill the hole in her heart caused by her absent son and grandson.

As she slipped into her dreams, Delia prayed that her boys would come home to her sometime soon. She needed them in her life; they were her life and without them she had nothing.

* * *

><p><strong>AN 12-13-12:<strong>_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._


	32. The Start of a Strange Journey

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><em><span>Chapter 32: The Start of a Strange Journey<span>_

_Wednesday Morning, July 31, 1991  
>Gringotts Bank, Diagon Alley<br>London, England_

Unlike the somewhat terrifying journey through the first door that Harry had experienced, this journey was relatively uneventful. They simply walked through the strange standing water and stepped into a rather plain, dimly lit tunnel. Half a mile later they came to another set of doors with words carved into them in gibberish (what they would later learn was Gringotts as written in Gobbledygook, the native language of the goblins). Ash tried opening the doors but they didn't want to budge for him.

Harry was just getting ready to climb down off of Dancer's back, so he could try opening them (in case they needed his magic to unlock) when the stowaway unown appeared and blasted the doors open with its Hidden Power. The entire tunnel pitched and rocked under the explosive blast of psychic power, and after a full minute, the pair of doors blocking their way sprang open with a loud crash that reverberated all around them. Dancer reared in her harness, causing Harry to nearly slip off the frightened fire horse as she twisted back and forth in an effort to turn around and flee. It was sheer willpower alone that prevented Harry from tumbling to the ground beneath her feet as he tried to verbally sooth the flustered ponyta.

Ash rushed over to give Harry a hand in calming the agitated fire horse once the ground stopped shaking. It took several minutes for the Pokémon to realize she wasn't in danger any longer and reluctantly she dropped back down onto all four feet much to Harry's relief. Shaking from the strain of trying to keep his seat, Harry leaned forward and pressed his face against Dancer's neck (who was still trembling too) right below her the flame of her mane as he gently stroked the side of her neck with one hand. He couldn't really blame her for getting spooked by the unexpected tremor combined with the loud noises and lights that had accompanied the unown's attack.

The rest of Harry's Pokémon had been spooked as well, with those in the cart huddling together as they cried out in fear while those that had been walking and dropped down onto to their bellies to avoid being knocked off their feet. The exception was Trickster, who'd simply sat down and weathered the disturbance with aplomb as he stared out through the now opened doors; his tails flicking in either impatience or irritation. The wild unown had disappeared shortly after blasting the doors open; though it was not know whether he returned to the PokéWorld or if he'd vanished into the Wizarding World.

As the smoke from the unown's psychic attack slowly dispersed, Ash led the way out of the tunnel through the now open doors and into what looked like a large dark cavern. The moment his eyes adjusted to the darkness after the brightness of the magical attack, Ash wished they were still safely ensconced back inside the tunnel, as he made out the eyes of hundreds of hostile creatures brandishing various weapons in their direction. Before he could tell Harry to retreat back into the relative safety of the tunnel though, a pair of goblins that had been standing beside the doors they'd entered through slammed the doors shut while a hundred more goblins cut off their retreat.

"I got a bad feeling about this, Sport," Ash stated as he backed up closer to his son where he sat on the still nervous mare.

"An accurate summation of the situation you created when you chose to invade the hallowed halls of Gringotts," one of the fiercer beings declared as thousand of torches flared into life all around the cavern, revealing the opulent room in all its glory. "Tell me, human, why we shouldn't gut you where you stand for your insolence?"

"Uh… um… er…" Ash stuttered as he frantically sought an explanation that wouldn't anger the creatures further. What he would have said, though, would never be known, as the pokéballs on his belt began shaking wildly when the technology that allowed them to function malfunctioned under the extreme pressure created by the ambient magic living in the very air of this world. With loud cracks, the pokéballs split open and belched forth their contained Pokémon with shocked and startled roars at the unexpected release.

Charizard, Ash's huge dragon Pokémon, roared and belched flames as he stretched his huge wings and surveyed the tiny beings threatening his trainer. Feraligatr hissed menacingly as he rose up on his back legs and leered down at the much smaller creatures. Venusaur, Alakazam, and Primeape just stood there silently flexing their muscles (or vines in Venusaur's case) as they looked left and right. Noctowl hovered just above Ash's head turning in lazy circles, while Pikachu chattered nonstop at the ugly man-like beings that surrounded them. Trickster, Jester, Moe, and Spark formed a protective circle around Harry and Dancer while the other Pokémon in the cart peered out over the sides to see what was going on.

Harry was the only one who wasn't afraid of the strange beings; he'd been told by the unown what to expect in the short riddle they'd given him (though at the time it hadn't made much sense). As he stared at the one that had spoken, he opened his mouth and recited confidently over the cries of the Pokémon; "Gringotts holds the key, seek the goblins and their vaults beneath the surface. Words are empty; goblins only respect courage, power, and gold." All eyes turned to stare at Harry upon his living perch, and Harry swallowed thickly as he held himself still so as to not betray the discomfort he felt at being scrutinized. Beneath him, Dancer snorted and shifted between the shafts of the cart as she pawed at the stones under her feet.

Harry's words seemed to break the spell that held Ash in place, as he visibly relaxed before addressing the goblin that had spoken to him just minutes earlier. "We didn't know the doors led to this place, we were just following the portal as we were instructed to. Charizard, guys, stand down, we aren't here to fight." This last order was directed to the Pokémon, who reluctantly relaxed their battle-ready stances.

"This dragon, and the other beasts; they all respond to your spoken orders?"

"Yes, I have spent years training with my Pokémon," Ash replied to the slightly less hostile question.

"What kind of magic has granted you absolute control over these creatures?"

"Pokémon are intelligent creatures, it doesn't take magic to train them, only kindness, knowledge, and patience," Ash countered as he frowned at the intimidating goblin that kept asking questions.

"Pathetic tricks that hold no sway over dragons and the greater beasts," the goblin snorted in disdain. "Guards, escort the prisoners and their beasts to the dungeons and confiscate their possessions."

"_**You have no right to take us prisoner and steal our belongings,**_" Harry hissed out angrily, the magic lacing his voice making his words echo through the large stone room. "_**Magic brought us here so that we might seek your help, we did not break into your precious vaults nor did we attack you; not even when you greeted us with hostility and threats. Do not presume the right to lay claim to our persons or our property. We apologize for our unorthodox arrival, but that alone does not warrant your current aggression. Further aggression or additional slights on your part will have grave consequences for your continued survival.**_"

"I am Lord Manager Ragnok, ruler of this bank," the spokes-goblin thundered angrily as he brandished his battle axe at Harry. "Who are you, _boy_, who dares speak to me so, in my domain?"

"_**DO NOT CALL ME BOY!**_" Harry roared in rage, his emotions (which had already been out of sorts for weeks) skittering out of his control as all of his old memories of this world swirled through his mind in a rush.

The violent magical outburst that followed on the heels of his words knocked every last goblin in the room off their feet and tore their weapons from their grasp. Only Ash's presence appearing at his side a second later prevented the diminutive seventeen year old from lashing out a second time in his anger. As the older man pulled him down from Dancer's back and embraced the emotional young man tightly, Harry's rage slowly faded.

"_My name is not __**boy**__,_" Harry whispered without any real heat, only the magic that still laced his voice allowing the soft words to reach the ears of every goblin in the room.

* * *

><p>Ragnok slowly climbed back to his feet, his battle axe left untouched on the floor where it had landed a few feet away from him. He stared unabashedly at the powerful young wizard that had disarmed and knocked over five hundred of his best warriors with nothing more than a thought – without breaking a sweat or immediately collapsing in magical exhaustion. He was impressed, even though he didn't wish to be impressed. Ragnok hated wizards with a passion; especially the weak-willed and magically deficient ones that demanded to be treated like royalty. The ancient and powerful goblin could respect power though; and that small slip of a boy had spades of power to spare.<p>

A simple order, barked in harsh Gobbledygook, spurred his warriors into action as they gathered their fallen weapons and silently retreated down into the maze of tunnels and caverns below the surface. In less then ten minutes, all that remained were the original fifteen night guards, the five honor guards that served as Ragnok's bodyguard, and Ragnok himself.

"Your apology will suffice for the moment," Ragnok announced imperiously as he approached the strangers that had broken unwittingly (according to their word) into his bank. "If you will follow me I will take you to a conference room where we can… discuss your… unusual arrival."

"What of our Pokémon and our belongings?" the older man demanded softly as he looked up at met the stare of the shorter goblin leader with a challenging glare of his own.

"You may bring them," Ragnok replied simply, as he turned abruptly and headed for one of the marble lined hallways that opened out into the large room where they stood.

The older man shrugged and gave the powerful young wizard one last squeeze before he gathered up the now-useless white-and-red objects on the floor and instructed his creatures to follow behind the cart. The man then led the strange group as younger man draped an arm across the burning horse's back and followed without saying a word. Three of the dog-like beasts trotted on either side of the older man while the forth one with nine tails hung back to walk beside the wizard, the untrusting creature watching the goblins that silently watched them leave the room.

The room to which they were led was smaller than the one they'd arrived in but no less opulent. The walls, made of polished pink toned granite, reflected the light of the torches chasing the shadows from every corner of the long room. A huge oval table occupied two thirds of the room along with a dozen chairs. The goblin honor guards that followed Ragnok everywhere for his protection, were currently pushing the huge table to one side to make room for the cart and all of the animals inside the room. Once they finished, all but two of them backed out of the room and closed the door while the two remaining goblin guards took up sentry on either side of the large doors.

Ragnok silently invited (or rather ordered) both of the humans to sit with a single gesture and waited for them to comply before getting down to business; "You said that you were told the goblins would help you. Exactly what kind of help do you require of Gringotts?"

"Information," the older human stated abruptly.

Ragnok arched an eyebrow in the simplistic answer and waited for further explanation.

"What my father means, is that we need to know more about where we are and the people we can expect to encounter while we are here," the young wizard added as he lifted a strange snake-like creature up onto his lap. "All we know… or rather all I remember of this world is that it is cruel…"

"Pardon me," Ragnok interrupted abruptly as he read between the lines of the wizard's words. "Are you trying to tell me that you know nothing of our world, yet somehow knew to seek us out for assistance after discovering a way to travel through our wards?"

"It's complicated," the wizard continued. "I was born in this world but I ran away when I was five. My father found me when I entered his world and adopted me a year later. We'd known we'd be returning to this place for eleven years… but not to this exact location. I mean, when I left the door was in the smallest corner of my cupboard and…"

"Stop… you are speaking in riddles," Ragnok ordered as he glared at both humans. "Let us start with the simple things. Who are you?"

"My name is Ash Ketchum," the older man stated before introducing the young wizard. "This is my son, Harry Ketchum."

"Thank you. Now, young Mr. Ketchum, you spoke of an adoption?"

"Yes, I have the papers in my daypack."

Ragnok watched as the young boy dug through the pack strapped to his back and brought out a thick red folder stuffed full of various documents. Taking the offered folder, Ragnok quickly opened it and began perusing the many documents it contained. He found a birth certificate for the older Ketchum, with a birth year of nineteen-eighty-two but assumed it was actually the young wizard's certificate because the age didn't fit with the man sitting before him. He then found the adoption papers that had been mentioned and his eyes bugged out as he read the date on the stamp of approval.

"What kind of joke is this? Approval given on September twenty-fourth in the year two-thousand three? Impossible! What utter rubbish! We have barely entered the nineteen-nineties, and yet you expect me to believe that you will adopt this b… this… young wizard in over ten years from this date? That this… that you are, were the wizard born as _Harry James Potter_? Utterly impossible! We would have been notified of a pending adoption for one of our customers the moment it was filed; as per the guidelines of the Treaties of Reasonable Restriction, Redirection, and Reallocation we signed with your Ministry after the rebellions of the seventeen hundreds. Who are you?"

"We didn't come from this world," Ash stated without inflection as he calmly met Ragnok's gaze.

* * *

><p>Ash and Harry watched impassively as the powerful goblin ranted.<p>

"Another world? Tch… next you'll be telling me you came from the future! Stick me with another knife and spare me your lies. Harry Potter was born in the year nineteen-eighty; he would be two years older than you Mr. Ketchum, even if I believed you lived somewhere in the distant future. The cities listed on your documents don't even exist anywhere in the world…"

"Alternate universe, time travel, magical portals between worlds," Harry explained softly (and reluctantly) as he pulled the documents from the startled goblin's hands. "On what must have been my fifth birthday, twelve years ago for me and six years in this world, I traveled through a magical doorway I created in the cupboard I lived in under the stairs of my aunt and uncle's house. I ended up in another world full of wondrous yet monstrous creatures that attacked me. My dad, Ash, rescued me and later adopted me after we journeyed to see the Hypno, who broke the nightmare curse and unlocked my memories of who I was. For eleven years I lived with my father and learned everything I could about the world I found myself in, constantly living with the knowledge that I would be forced to return to this world because of some destiny fate had given me."

Harry leaned back and sighed as he closed his eyes and lost himself in the memories of his home for a moment before he continued in a tired voice, "Today was my seventeenth birthday, or possibly yesterday; I don't know exactly how the time differences between our worlds works. I do know that for every two years I lived with my father only one year has passed in this world. Hypno spoke of the differences when we discovered I wasn't aging and growing normally. Hence the reason I look more like a twelve or thirteen year old child instead of the seventeen year old I am."

"What proof can you offer to support your claim?"

"I have several albums of photographs packed in boxes in the cart that I have taken of Harry and his Pokémon over the last twelve years," Ash stated hesitantly, not certain if they would qualify as evidence.

"I have the trapped remains of the nightmare curse that was cast upon me when I was baby," Harry quietly added as he pulled the black crystal he'd been given by the old Hypno out of his bag.

Ragnok lifted the crystal in his hands and waved his hands over the dark object for several minutes as a frown slowly crept over his face before he looked up at the strange pair sitting before him. "You have spoken the truth. I can feel the magic of two powerful wizards of our world on this curse. The age of the curse is readily apparent, as just over fifteen years, but the memories embedded in the curse match an incident that I know for certain occurred approximately ten years earlier."

"Can you help us?" Ask inquired as he leaned forward and penned the goblin with his intense brown eyes.

"I can," Ragnok grudgingly admitted after a few minutes. "For a price."

"I don't know if our money is worth anything in this world," Ash admitted as he sat back and frowned. "But what is your policy concerning gemstones?"

"Paper money will undoubtedly be worthless, any coins you have can be exchanged for their material value, and I would have to see the gemstones in questions to assess their value."

At a nod from Ash, Harry rose from his seat and walked around the back of the cart where he dug out one of the crystal boxes of gemstones that Hypno had gifted them. When he returned to his seat, he opened the box and pulled out five different stone cubes that he passed over to the goblin.

"Opal, diamond, emerald, topaz, and sapphire," Harry named each stone as he dropped them into the goblins eager, greedy hands. "We also have beryl, tourmaline, garnet, ruby, and aquamarines as well as some uncut nuggets of obsidian from the heart of a dormant volcano and several pounds of kimberlite shot through with diamond fragments that I gathered from the cliffs of an active volcano just last year."

"How… how many total?"

"This box holds four thousand cube cut stones of the finest quality. I don't know the exact weight of raw stones I brought with me but we can deal with those later."

"I believe that we can work something out," Ragnok finally announced with a feral grin as he lifted each of the gem stones in his hand and examined their flawless forms in the harsh light of the torch flames.

Harry leaned back in his seat while he listened to his father haggle with the greedy goblin, stroking Splash's head as the nearly nine-foot dratini nuzzled him from his perch around his shoulders. This was definitely the strangest beginning of any journey he'd ever gone on, and he couldn't help but wonder what else this cold world held in store for him.

Some seven hours later, Ash and Harry were signing a business contract for the sale of two thousand gemstones and thirty-four pounds of high grade obsidian in exchange for two million galleons and filling out an application for a new vault to be opened in their joint name. Ash took the scroll first, checking it over carefully as he filled in the information needed and before signing the bottom. He then passed it over to Harry and watched with approval as his son skimmed the application as well before signing his name with a little more flourish, a small grin of his face as he caught his father's eye roll. Harry had just barely set down what the goblin had called a contract quill, which had drawn his own blood to use as ink as it cut through the back of his hand with a sharp sting, when the application he had just signed began glowing bright yellow.

Ragnok frowned as he leaned forward and snagged the completed application with two fingers. He spent several minutes scrutinizing the information on the document and tested it three times with his magic before he called out a sharp command in gobbledygook that had one of his guards disappearing out the door. When the guard returned five minutes later, there was a second goblin following him; this goblin approached Ragnok and the two goblins were soon immersed in what looked and sounded like a small argument. Once they finished with what ever it was they were talking or arguing about, the new goblin then took the Ketchum's application and left the room.

The goblin returned ten minutes later, ten minutes in which Ash and Harry had sat in uncomfortable silence while Ragnok glowered at them in turns; as if the goblin manager was blaming them personally for whatever it was that had happened with the application. When he entered the room this time, the goblin aide was carrying what looked like a large stone tile that was a strange green color shot through with veins of dark red. The goblin placed the stone down on the table in front of Harry and backed away while Ragnok leaned forward and ordered Harry to use to contract quill to sign his name on the stone.

Confused and a little intimidated by the mood change of the fierce goblin seated across from him (not that he let it show), Harry did as asked and watched as his blood was absorbed directly into the stone the moment he finished. A few seconds later the red veins in the stone began glowing red as they began squiggling and moving around on the tile. When the glow finally faded away Harry and Ash could see that the red veins had formed a series of letters and numbers on top of the green background.

Harry James Potter – Harry Ketchum/17  
>647 – 582 – 441 – 246 Sole Heir: unlimited access<br>107 Sole Heir: access pending  
>486 – 459 – 333 Heir Apparent: limited access<br>897 New Account (Joint): pending (unlimited access)

"This complicates matters," Ragnok spat without any real venom. "The time spent outside this world allowed your magic to mature and the blood stone recognizes your adult status, even though in this world you would technically only have reached your eleventh year. I had known it was possible but believed your magic would have been stunted like your physical growth had been stunted. The stone also indicates that your magic has fully accepted your adoption despite the fact that there had not been a magical adoption ritual performed at the time of adoption as is the custom in this world."

"Adult status? He's not yet eighteen," Ash blurted out as he frowned down at the stone still sitting in front of Harry. "And exactly what would that mean for my son in this world?"

"In the wizarding world the age of adulthood is considered seventeen even though the muggle world considers eighteen the year one reaches their majority," Ragnok explained after giving the aide another set of instructions in gobbledygook. "So, since he has reached his majority in our world he can now be considered an adult despite the fact that he was born in the year nineteen-eighty. What that means, is he will no longer be bound by the underage restrictions, has the ability to enter into legal agreements (both verbal and written) in his own name, is old enough to be taxed on his income, no longer requires a magical guardian to protect his interests, and he can claim his inheritance six years earlier then expected."

The goblin aide returned carrying several rolls of parchment and a small silver box just as Ragnok finished that long winded explanation. Those items were set down beside Ragnok with very little ceremony before the goblin disappeared back to wherever it was the guard pulled him from before Ragnok had need of him.

"What do all the numbers under my son's name mean?" Ash asked as he studied the stone tile while trying to come to terms with the knowledge that in this world his son probably didn't need his protection.

"They are vault numbers. Six-forty-seven is the trust vault Mr. and Mrs. Potter opened just before their son was born. Five-eighty-two is the vault his mother opened when she entered the wizarding world and four-forty-one the trust vault his grandparents opened for his father when he was four. Two-forty-six is the Potter Family Vault which holds family heirlooms, all the Potter liquid assets, the various deeds and contracts pertaining to the Potter family businesses and investments for the last eight hundred years, and a few other odds and ends. The next vault, number one-oh-seven was set up nearly five hundred years ago by the Flamels for their descendants; there is no record of what that vault contains and in order to access the contents there are a set of very rigid requirements you must meet."

"That brings us to the three Black vaults; numbers four-eighty-six and four-fifty-nine are trust vaults that were opened for Regulus and Sirius Black respectively and the Black Family Vault which holds the family heirlooms, all the Black liquid assets, the various deeds and contracts pertaining to the Black family businesses and investments for the last seven hundred and twenty-three years, and a plethora of Dark Artifacts of questionable origin. The reason for those particular vaults showing up is three-fold; you are the heir apparent of the current Head of House, you are the godson of the closest direct descendant of the main branch of the family, and you yourself are from a cadet branch of the family through your paternal grandmother. Your access to that vault is limited because the current patriarch of the family is still alive. The final number represents the vault you were in the process of opening."

"Can we still open a new vault? Given that you said I was inheriting all those other vaults?" Harry asked with a frown as he stared down at the stone tablet in front of him.

"Of course, we at Gringotts don't care how many vaults you own, so long as you have enough money in each one to cover the yearly rental along with any taxes and fees you accrue."

With that, Ragnok finished process the vault application before passing a magical copy to Ash to keep for their records. Harry was then required to sign each of the additional parchments the aide had returned with – several of them granting him sole access his and his parents' trust vaults and the Potter Family Vault, limited joint access to the Black Vaults, and granted Gringotts permission to contact both the Black Patriarch and the Flamels in regards to his inheritance. Another pair of the documents dealt with legal matters; the first one removed non-family access and limited extended family members' access to the aforementioned vaults (standard procedure for inheritance claims to prevent others from stealing the inheritor's money and heirlooms), while the second one confirmed Harry's legal status as an adult, validated his adopted name as legal in this world, and gave him total control to the vaults he to which he was listed as the sole inheritor. The final document, that both Harry and his father were required to sign, granted Ash limited access to the various Potter vaults.

They also spent several minutes discussing the various means available for Harry to acquire formal training in regards to his magic and eventually decided to apply to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry since it would be easier than trying to find competent tutors for each of the different branches of magic. The goblins gladly helped them fill out the school's application (for a price) and kindly sent it off with an owl as soon as the ink dried. Another twenty minutes were spent discussing Harry's status as a celebrity in the Magical World which involved a brief history of what had happened the night his parents died, the potential need for Harry to change his appearance to avoid drawing attention to himself, and methods of transportation open to them since they would have trouble establishing themselves in the Non-magical World due to a distinct lack of proper documentation for Ash in this world.

"I thank you for your business, Mr. and Mr. Ketchum. Is there anything else Gringotts can help you with before we conclude our meeting?"

"Well, we will need a place to live. A house somewhere out in the country with plenty of yard space, a large swimming pool or lake, and privacy from nosy neighbors; since our Pokémon friends would draw unwelcome attention. Or maybe something in the city if it has a large enough yard. A place to stay in the mean time would be great too."

"We can help you find the perfect house; Gringotts will even ward the property to give you the space and privacy you require – for a price. As for a temporary place to stay; you can place your belongings in your new vault and rent a room at the Leaky Cauldron, one of my goblins will escort you there, until your new home is ready."

"Sounds good but what about our Pokémon? I would rather not draw unwanted attention and I doubt any hotel or inn would have the room necessary to house the larger ones, even if it is just for a couple of nights."

"Ah, I'd forgotten about your creatures, they are unusually well behaved. Maybe it would be best if you stayed at one of the Potter Properties until we can find you a suitable home? Or you could make one of the properties your permanent home, providing one of them is suitable for your needs. If you wish to avoid drawing attention to the animals, there are magical methods of concealing or altering their appearance. Some, in the form of spells and potions, can be purchased from the stores in Diagon Alley and, depending on which method you choose to use, will need to be reapplied every three to six months. Or you may purchase collars layered with goblin enchantments from Gringotts which will completely hide the presence of the creatures from most means of magical detection."

"I don't like the idea of giving potions to the Pokémon since we don't know how they will affect them and the spells sound just as risky. On the other hand, those enchanted collars sound like they have potential but we can look into those another time. Do the Potter Properties include a relatively secluded stretch of undeveloped land where we can camp undisturbed until a house can be found instead?"

"The Potter's own several undeveloped plots of land in northern Scotland. I will have a pair of goblins transport you, your creatures, and your belongings to the most remote site shortly. We will contact you when we have a list of prospective houses for you to look over in the event that your son's current properties are unsuitable."

"That would be acceptable. Thank you for your help and patience, Mr. Ragnok," Ash replied as he rose out of his chair and began packing up their copies of the contracts and other documents.

Ragnok merely grunted as he passed Harry the silver box that had been brought in earlier before sweeping out of the room. Once he was gone, Harry lifted his Pokémon up into the wagon – except Dancer, who was still harnessed to the cart – and tucked the numerous documents, remaining gemstones, and the silver box (which he'd opened to reveal a ring with five gold keys and three silver keys) into his backpack so they wouldn't get lost. Ten minutes later, two goblins joined them in the room holding a large brass rod that was used to transport their entire group and the cart to a craggy hillside overlooking a land bound loch. The smaller of the two goblins took a minute to point out the boundaries of the property, before both creatures vanished in a puff of smoke.

Meanwhile, back inside of Gringotts' lobby, the first hitch in Professor Dumbledore's plans revolving around the Potter boy was about to make itself known as an unsuspecting Rubeus Hagrid walked up to a teller and announced that his charge needed to make a withdrawal from his vault. Unfortunately, said vault was now in complete control of its rightful owner and Hagrid's possession of a recently revoked key would be extremely incriminating in the eyes of the goblins.

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><p>~ THE END ~<p>

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><p><strong>Preview for the Sequel: <strong>

The Wizard's World

Harry has finally returned to the wizarding world after twelve years, as had been foretold by the mystical Hypno, with his father and his Pokémon friends in tow. The time he'd spent living in a world filled with strange and wondrous creatures has left its mark on Harry though and he is no longer the frightened little boy that Ash Ketchum had rescued from an angry flock of spearow. He is a fairly confident young man who cares deeply for both his father and his Pokémon though like all young men he sometimes doubts himself.

Long buried fears will be faced as Harry is thrust into the illogical and highly prejudiced magical society where his face and birth name had been made famous due to a simple twist of fate. A world Harry hadn't even known existed when he fled the less than loving care of the Dursleys on his fifth birthday. A world Harry would have preferred to have nothing to do with. Unfortunately, Harry has been entangled in the strands of Fate and he has no choice but to face his destiny in order to protect the world he has come to think of as his home.

Year One

Harry has been enrolled in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry so he can learn to control the magic that runs through his blood above and beyond the few tricks that the Hypno had taught him. He also hopes to discover exactly what it is that he is meant to accomplish so that he can return to the home he never wanted to leave and search for an alternate path home in the event that he is unable to draw another doorway. Dark plots will come to light when Harry Ketchum comes face to face with a young boy calling himself Harry Potter on top of dealing with a shockingly high number of bullies.

Story will be AU with no pairings and contain: evil and manipulative Dumbledore, rampant bashing of multiple Weasleys (including Ron and the Twins), some light Hermione bashing, and a bitter Snape that may or may not end up as evil.

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><p><strong>AN:<strong> _And that's a wrap. I'd like to take this time to thank each and every one of my reviewers for their kind words, praise, suggestions, and constructive criticism. I'd also like to thank the 800 plus members that saw fit to place this story on their alert and favorite list or included it in their communities. I can't tell you just how much it meant that this story received such an enthusiastic response from the numerous readers. ~ Jenn_

**AN 12-13-12:**_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._


	33. Omake 1: Of Bicycles and Contests

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN:** _This latest revisions of this story have been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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><p>Omake 1: <em>Of Bicycles and Contests<em>

(_This omake originally was part of chapter 20 and takes place after Harry's 6__th__ birthday when Ash returns to Slateport to help the new Gym Leader and before the adoption has been finalized._)

Ash lifted Harry up onto his shoulders as they moved through the crowd towards the entrance of the Contest Hall. May, an old friend of his that he'd traveled through Hoenn with for years, had sent him tickets to see her perform with her Pokémon when she heard that he was once again in the Hoenn region. He looked forward to seeing May and her brother, Max, and introducing the two of them to Harry.

Up on his shoulders, Harry was craning his head from side to side looking at all of the different kinds of Pokémon that had been entered in the contest. There were hundreds from each of the different regions and they all looked so different. Some of them were quite scary looking in the six year old's mind but most of them actually looked sort of like the normal creatures that he would have expected to see in his old world. From his backpack the vulpix's head peered out over Harry's shoulder while Pikachu chittered excitedly from his shoulder and the little ponyta that had adopted Harry trotted along behind them.

Once inside the huge contest hall, Ash dropped Harry down so he could walk and the two of them made their way up to their seats in the front row and sat down to wait for the show to start. While they waited, Ash explained to Harry about how the contests worked and what they could expect to see today. Ash wanted to make certain the six year old wasn't caught off guard by some of the attacks that were used since they were right up front. _At least he's not as frightened of the Pokémon as he was before,_ Ash thought as he observed his son eagerly soaking up the information he gave him.

Harry loved nearly every minute of the show… seeing the various Pokémon perform and learning about the different kinds of moves each type could perform was interesting. The battle portion of the contest didn't seem to be as brutal as some of the trainer battles he'd witnessed while they'd been traveling which made it easier for him to watch. Ash made certain to point out May when her turn finally came up and told his soon to be son that the Pokémon she'd chosen to enter in the contest was her skitty.

Once the contest was over, Ash and Harry headed backstage where Ash introduced him to May and her brother Max. Harry shyly congratulated her on winning second place in the contest before he hid behind Ash out of nervousness. May invited the two of them to join her and her brother for a celebratory dinner at the hotel that night so she could catch up with Ash since they hadn't seen each other for years.

As the three friends shared old stories over the meal, Harry listened avidly; giggling madly when he learned that Ash had crashed May's bike in much the same way he'd crashed Misty's bike. Ash had blushed and swore it was just coincidence only for May to remind him that he'd also crashed Dawn's bike when he first met her. Harry had then daringly pointed out that Misty complained about him crashing her bike as well the first time they'd met, to Ash's chagrin. At the end of the night, they reluctantly parted ways with Ash promising to keep in better touch with the pair before he took Harry home.

Over all it had been a pleasant experience and, embarrassing old stories aside, it had been good to see Harry laughing and having a good time.

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><p><strong>AN:<strong> _And there is one of the scenes that I just couldn't fit into The Wishing Door. It's not perfect but it was a cute and fluffy scene that I'd tried to keep in the story. I had wanted to expand it though (to show the actual contest and more of the conversation) but there was just too much going on already in that chapter. _

_There are so many interesting people that Ash has met through his life even before I threw Harry into his universe and fitting them all in would have been impossible. Which is why I am willing to post the scene cuts that didn't make the cut and expand upon events I only skimmed over in the story (when I can find the time to actually write them). I will write more and post them when I can but don't expect them often. ~ Jenn_

**AN 12-05-12:**_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline. I tried adding a bit to the omake but my mind drew a blank and so I just left it as it was._


	34. Omake 2: A Prophecy Invoked by Theft

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN1:** _This omake is dedicated to all of my patient readers that have been waiting for me to post the final chapter of Wizard's World Year One. I'd also like to thank _**cross-over-lover232** _for the idea to write this omake._

**AN2:**_ This omake has been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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><p><span>Omake 2: A Prophecy Invoked by a String of Thefts<span>

Deep within the heart of an enchanted forest, a small, white creature with short stubby limbs slept curled up inside of a nest made from star shaped leaves and soft wool. On the creatures head was a golden headdress with three points giving the creature the appearance of wearing a star on its head and attached to each of the points was a single green ribbon that fluttered in the gentle breeze that cavorted about the tree the creature's nest was perched in. The tiny little creature was a Pokémon known as Jirachi, the wish Pokémon.

Jirachi let out a murmur of discontent as the once playful breeze turned into a sudden gale that grew sharp and cold. Chilled, Jirachi shivered in his sleep and curled up on his side as he burrowed deeper into its nest. Unseen by the sleeping Pokémon, inky black hands slipped through the night in the harsh winds that shook the tree where Jirachi had made his nest. The dark hands were transparent like smoke and glowed with a faint red light the color of blood. The hands were also desperate as they wove in and around the tree branches as the roaring wind pulled them ever closer to the sleeping Pokémon.

Two minutes later, the questing fingers of the shadow-like hands wrapped themselves firmly around one of the three wish tags (the green ribbons on Jirachi's headdress). A sharp tug and the tag was torn free as the wind pulled both tag and hands through the trees. The sleeping Jirachi woke with a start the instant the tag had been taken and he let out a sharp cry as he reached up to search the spot where the tag had once been attached. Jirachi sat frozen for several long minutes inside of his nest as he clutched at his headdress; his mind frozen with shock.

Someone had just stolen a wish!

Anger then filled the normally playful Pokémon. He couldn't believe that someone had had the audacity to steal a wish from him! He began searching the forest surrounding his nest for some sign of the thief but only grew angrier when he found no trace of the bandit. Feeling impotent, Jirachi let out a cry of rage that shook the very trees as he shot up into the sky in search of someone who could help him track down the wish thief. When none of the forest dwelling Pokémon could help him, Jirachi left the forest to track down the one being that could both find and punish the thief for daring to steal a wish; Arceus.

Upon arriving at the Court of Arceus, Jirachi found the palace in complete bedlam as Legendary Pokémon from all over the world argued with their counterparts or made demands upon Arceus himself. It did not take long for the small wish Pokémon to discover that he was not the only one who'd been visited by the thief during the night. Palkia's ability to manipulate and warp space, Dialga's ability to warp time, and Giratina's ability to travel between dimensions had all been borrowed without permission. Cresselia, the lunar Pokémon, was being haunted by terrible nightmares that have been resisting all of her attempts to dispel them while her counterpart, Darkrai (the pitch black Pokémon that is sometimes called the nightmare Pokémon), was fervidly denying any involvement with the nightmares that frightened even her.

The rest of the Pokémon present had similar complaints and Jirachi's earlier rage turned to fear as he wondered what kind of being could have possibly affected so many powerful beings. Slipping further into the room, Jirachi soon found himself hovering between a pink cat-like creature and a green fairy-like creature (Mew and Celebi respectfully). Unlike the rest of the legendary Pokémon, the two small creatures were simply curious as to what was happening; the two of them having been drawn to Arceus's Court by the commotion. Jirachi was going to ask the pair if they knew what exactly it was that was going on when a voice cut through the chaos and silence feel across the room instantly.

"Be silent!" Arceus ordered as he stepped down from the dais and swept his gaze out over the assembled creatures that he ruled over. "I realize that you are all unsettled over the recent string of thefts and intrusions but they are the least of our concerns right now. The heavens are shifting and the Prophecy of Darkest Night has been activated. Magic has selected her champion and it was she that pulled upon your gifts so that her chosen one might find his way to our world so that we can prepare him for his destiny."

Frightened and angry mutterings and murmurings filled the courtyard for several minutes before the room fell silent once more as the gathered Pokémon waited to hear what else their venerable leader had to say.

"The Bearded Demon seeks to extinguish Light's Champion and already the Bearded One has done much harm to the Child of Fate. Magic sought us out when she discovered that her chosen champion has been suffering so that we might guide the young one to the Chosen One of Old so that he might be healed. There is only one rule that Magic has commanded we must abide by; we can not be seen by Magic's Chosen nor can the Champion of Pokémon suspect our involvement. We must work in the shadows and lead the child to those who will show him the way."

"Giratina, Palkia, and Dialga; it will be your duty to see to it that the child travels safely between his world and ours. Victini; you will need to seek out a trustworthy agent who can teach the child of his world and lead him free of the darkness that the Bearded Demon has enshrouded his soul within. Darkrai and Cresselia; the two of you are to work together to do what you can to suppress the darkness that has captured the child's dreams until Victini's agent can intervene. Little Mew; I need for you to search the world for a worthy Pokémon companion for the child – he will need someone strong to stand by his side when the times comes for him to face his destiny."

"Mew?" Mew asked even as she nodded acceptance of the task she'd been given.

"Yes, you may select more than one companion; just make certain that the one you send to him first is strong in body, mind, and magic. Celebi; please seek out the Chosen One of Old and make certain that he is in the right place at the right time so that he will cross paths with the Child of Fate the moment the child passes into our world – the child will need his protection. Lugia; I will need you to use your ability to control the weather to make certain that the other humans can not interfere once the Champion of Pokémon has found Magic's Champion. Ho-oh; you will need to watch over the child while he is weak – he can not be allowed to die for if he is lost, then both of our worlds will perish."

Those Pokémon that had been called by name and given orders quickly dispersed while those who had not yet been given a task shifted nervously as they waited for Arceus to tell them what part they were to play in the coming madness. Jirachi shifted uncomfortably as he reached up and fingered his headdress where the stolen wish used to sit and pondered on what he had just learned. His earlier anger, at the nerve of someone daring to steal a wish from him, had dissipated over the course of Arceus's explanation and had he known what the wish was to be used for he would have gladly offered it up if asked. He wondered if one wish would be enough to do what must be done.

As if Arceus had read his mind (which he may well have) the proud ruler of the legendary Pokémon made his way to the diminutive wish Pokémon and addressed him, "Jirachi, I felt your earlier shock and anger when you discovered Magic's theft and on her behalf I shall apologize for the suffering she put you through. There had been no time to seek for your permission as the Child of Prophecy was suffering in both body and mind when he made his desperate wish. His plight is far from over though and I would ask a boon of you; would you be willing to give your final two wishes to the Champion of Pokémon and Fate's Child? They will have need of your special brand of luck in order to help them through the coming trials."

Jirachi moved his hand to one of the two remaining wish tags that fluttered about his headdress and fingered the small ribbon thoughtfully as he gave Arceus's request serious consideration. After a minute, he pulled both ribbons free and used one of them to duplicate the final wish so that there were now six wish tags hanging in the air between the two Pokémon. Three of the fluttering tags had the name Harry Potter written upon them while the other three had the name Ash Ketchum scrawled down their length; the extra wish for the child Jirachi's way of saying that he'd forgiven both Magic and the child for the theft of the first wish.

"Your generosity shall not be forgotten my young friend," Arceus murmured as the tags shimmered in blue light before they vanished with a soft pop. "I shall see to it that one of our number watches over the wishes to ensure that they will be used only when our efforts can not help our champions persevere through the coming trials. If you wish to return to your slumber; you may. Or if you wish to join the others in watching over our two charges you are more than welcome to do so."

Jirachi nodded and immediately teleported himself to Celebi's side. He wished to see the man that had been the child that once saved their world and so that he could gaze upon the face of the new Child of Prophecy. The small wish Pokémon was not surprised to find nearly all of the other legendary Pokémon scattered about the field that Giratina had chosen as the child's entrance into their world; they were all curious to see the boy that Prophecy, Fate, and Magic had chosen as their champion. Knowing what the child looked like and seeing for themselves how pure his soul was would help them better know how to help and guide him.

When the tiny child finally slipped out through the portal door, all of the legendary Pokémon shifted in anger as they gazed upon the timid and near broken child; their hearts breaking for the suffering they could feel weighing down his soul. The darkness that wrapped around that bright soul sickened and angered the powerful Pokémon for they could feel the wrongness within the shadows that threatened to drown the child. And then they gasped in wonder and surprise as they finally felt the tiny tendrils of magic that escaped from the bindings of darkness; beneath the bindings of evil lay an untapped wealth of power. The most amazing thing about that well of power was the innocence and purity it radiated despite the choke-hold of darkness that was suppressing it.

This child was worth the effort they would need to expend to guide him without letting the humans know of their interference.

Jirachi stayed just long enough to witness Ash Ketchum's daring and selfless rescue of Fate's Child before he transported himself back to his enchanted forest. As he curled up in his nest once more, the tiny wish Pokémon smiled in contentment knowing that he'd helped play a part in saving the savior and that both of Prophecy's Children would find all they needed in each other with the help of his brothers and sisters.

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><p><strong>AN:<strong> _And cut! There you have it ladies and gentlemen… the reason why the legendary Pokémon didn't make an appearance in the actual story despite the impact that Harry had upon the Pokémon World and a glimpse of how it was that Harry actually managed to reach the Pokémon World out of all the other universes he could have potentially ended up in. It was also a hint to the hows and whys Harry ended up where he did, how he survived that first harrowing year, and how the other Pokémon he met (specifically the unown and Hypno) knew what they knew about Harry and his world. _

_You can expect future omakes showing specific events where a specific legendary intervened on Harry's behalf but I don't know when they'll be posted as they still have not yet been written. For now, I hope you enjoyed this short. ~ Jenn_

**AN 12-05-12:**_ This chapter has just been edited to correct a few minor punctuation errors, a grammatical error or two, clean up of a few sentences in order to smooth out a few awkward areas, break a few paragraphs down so as to improve readability, and had the date and place stamps added to the top of each section to allow for easier tracking of the timeline._


	35. Omake 3: Mew's Task

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN1:** _I'd been working on this omake off and on since I wrote the previous omake about how Harry ended up in the Pokémon World and why the Legendary Pokémon never made an appearance in the actual story. Once again, the credit for the original idea that led to this omake goes to _**cross-over-lover232**_. _

**AN2:**_ This omake has been self-beta'd; so there may still be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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><p><span>Omake 3: Mew's Task; A Companion for Magic's Champion<span>

After being assigned the task to find a worthy companion for Magic's Champion, Mew immediately began wondering what type of Pokémon would make the best companion. She soon came to the conclusion that in order to find the perfect companion for the new Child of Fate and Prophecy, she would have to learn everything she could about the child. Path chosen, the little pink cat-like Pokémon trailed after Celebi (who had been tasked to guide the Chosen One of Old to Magic's Champion) so that she could be there when both of the Children of Prophecy met for the first time. And so Mew stuck to Celebi's side as she flew across the known world towards the distortion caused by the powers of Giratina, Palkia, and Dialga.

It wasn't long before the two tiny Pokémon were settling own in the branches of the tree where they sensed the portal bringing the child would appear. Mew felt Jirachi Teleport to Celebi's side just a few minutes later but paid no mind to the Wish Pokémon as she felt Celebi begin wrapping her magic around and through the tree upon which they were perched. The air all around the trio rippled as Time inside of the tree froze in response to Celebi's machinations. All of the Legendary Pokémon in the area shivered in anticipation as they felt a spike of unfamiliar magic ripple through the area.

"Bii! Cel, cel, bii! Celebi!"

"Mew," Mew readily agreed as she shot up into the air to float far above the tree while she searched along the human road for a glimpse of the man who had been the boy who had once been named the Champion of Pokémon.

She found him a few minutes later and she felt her heart swell with fondness as she simply watched the man walking along the road with a very familiar yellow Pokémon perched upon his shoulder. Oh how she loved the man and the faithful pikachu that had helped save the world time and time again. If ever there was a human she would have wished to bond herself to, it would have been Ash Ketchum. The only thing that had stopped her from forming said bond was her restless nature; she constantly flitted from one place to another, never sitting still and always chasing after the many curiosities that captured her attention.

It would not have been fair to take Ash's heart knowing she'd never stay by his side despite how much she loved him.

Sighing wistfully, Mew dropped back down to where Celebi and the others waited to let them know the Champion of Old would be there soon with a crisp, "Mew, mew."

Just minutes later, the man and his pikachu stepped into view from around a small bend in the road and Mew snatched up her tail in her paws as she fought against the urge to greet him. She had a task to complete and could not allow her desire overshadow her duty. Her attention was yanked from the object of her desire seconds later as Celebi's magic swelled to a crescendo as the portal shimmered into existence at the base of the tree. Eagerness filled the little pink cat-like creature as she dropped her tail and peered through the leaves for a glimpse of the promised child.

Pain shot through Mew's heart the moment a tiny human child crawled out of the portal. It broke her heart to see a mere babe so mistreated and a surge of unfamiliar rage rushed through her at the obvious harm someone had heaped upon the little one. And then came a wave of wonder and awe as she felt the stirrings of the magic lurking beneath the darkness that was weighing down on the child's soul. It was pure, innocent, and powerful; even bound as it was by the evil that had been tied to the child.

There was a brief moment when Mew felt nothing but fear as the child unknowingly stumbled in the wrong direction and incited the ire of a large flock of wild spearow that had already been agitated by the earlier swell of negative emotions from her and her fellow Legendary Pokémon. As one, all of the Legendary Pokémon in the area prepared to defend the child only for the Champion of Pokémon to rush into the fray before they could act. Relief filled Mew the instant she saw Ash gather the child in his arms and she couldn't resist giving into the urge to execute several backwards loop-de-loops as her heart swelled with joy and hope.

Once she brought her emotions back under control, Mew found that she was the only one still in the area; the rest of her fellow Legendary Pokémon had either gone home or followed after the two humans. Humming to herself, Mew glanced towards the direction of the small town where she sensed the darkness twined around the child's soul before she glanced off towards the north as she contemplated the task she had been assigned by Arceus. After a few minutes of internal debate, she decided that she didn't know enough about the boy to find him a worthy companion and promptly shot off towards the boy. If her decision to follow the child for a time allowed her to satisfy her curiosity at the same time; well, no one would blame her for curiosity was as much a part of her nature as her playfulness was.

Over the course of the next nine days, Mew watched the child and the man that held her heart with unwavering intensity. She ached inside each time the child cried out in his sleep and longed to cuddle up next to the little one to ease the fear she could feel radiating from him. Outside of the Ketchum home, Lugia's storm raged on with the help of Zapdos in order to keep the other humans away for as long as possible. Even Lugia's energy was not unlimited though and on the eighth day the Guardian of the Sea was forced to let go of the storm that had ravaged a large portion of the Kanto Region.

That same night, Ho-oh was forced to intervene in order to save the child from certain death; the little one's infection and the fever that accompanied it had pushed the child dangerously close to death. It was one of the little one's heartfelt pleas during the healing process on that last violent night of storm and death that gave Mew the spark of an idea as to what kind of Pokémon would make the perfect first companion for the boy. Her conviction in her choice would be reinforced as she watched the little one's first tentative interactions with the Champion of Old on the ninth day.

The child needed a mother to love and protect him.

Mew set out on the afternoon of the ninth day to find a proper mother for the little one. It was a task that was not as simple as it first sounded; after all, Arceus had commanded that the child's first companion be strong in body, mind, and magic. A newborn Pokémon would be too weak in body as would one too old. A strong mind did not necessarily mean a stubborn mind or a mind filled with endless facts. And while all Pokémon possessed at least some magic, some species were far stronger magically than others. Then there was the fact that not all of the Pokémon that qualified based upon those three requirements would possess the nurturing nature of a mother that Mew knew the little one would need.

Bird Pokémon were notoriously good mothers but they were not very strong in magic or body and they tended to be rather featherbrained in Mew's opinion plus the child had been attacked by spearow which would make bonding with another flyer difficult. Cats also made good mothers and were very strong magically and mentally but they were somewhat weak in body and tended to be solitary creatures and Mew knew that the little one would need more than just one companion. Stumped, Mew Teleported herself to the Sinnoh region in order to bespeak the Lake Guardians; Azelf (the Willpower Pokémon), Mesprit (the Emotion Pokémon), and Uxie (the Knowledge Pokémon).

She spent a long night discussing the matter with the three fairy-like Pokémon and eventually they came up with the name of a single species that was physically strong, mentally strong (and highly intelligent), and full of old magic; the ninetales. The fox-like fire Pokémon were also known to be fiercely protective of their children in addition to being very loving and affectionate.

After thanking the trio of Lake Guardians for their help, Mew returned to Kanto and sought out the largest concentration of ninetales. She found them residing in the Lost Wilds between Kanto and Johto and excitedly hunted amongst the packs to find a magically strong, young mother with an open mind and an open heart. She found her easily enough and shadowed the young mother to be for an entire hour to make certain that she was the one. At the end of that hour, she was satisfied that her first choice in companions would fulfill all of the requirements; both those that Arceus had given her and the ones that she herself had decided were necessary.

Happy with her selection, she took herself back to the home of the man that held her heart to check on the little one and see how he had faired over the past twenty-four hours and to make certain she hadn't misread him during her earlier observations. Mew grew frantic when she discovered that humans were attempting to interfere with Magic's Chosen and the bond he was to have developed with the Champion of Old. She ached to intervene but the decree issued by Magic herself forbid her from showing herself and so, heartsick and worried over the child's renewed suffering, Mew trailed after the human machine that was carrying the little one away from his protector.

It was at that point that she realized that the machine was carrying the child closer to the Lost Wilds where she had discovered his first companion and Mew perked up. Filled with renewed energy, the little pink cat-like creature darted away to find the Legendary Beasts. She found Ho-oh first, as the Rainbow Pokémon had witnessed the same interference that Mew had and gone to search for the same trio of Legendary Pokémon for which she had been looking. Once the five of them gathered, Mew quickly conspired with Ho-oh, Suicune, Entei, and Raikou in order to bring the little one to the Lost Wilds to unite him with his chosen protector and companion.

Entei was sent to speak to the Guardian Nine that stood watch over the Lost Wilds in order to prevent them from interfering with their plans. Raikou was sent to find Mewtwo in order to request the powerful psychic's aide in guiding Ash Ketchum to the Lost Wilds so that he might collect the child and take him home once the child had bonded to his first companion. Suicune was then sent to watch over the ninetales that had been chosen as companion and mother to Magic's Champion to insure that nothing happened to the young mother or the litter of pups she carried. That left Mew and Ho-oh to watch over the child and make certain that he safely found his way into the wild.

Things were going perfectly right up until one of the humans that had taken the child had slapped him. Sure, it hadn't been very hard but after everything she'd seen and felt that the little one had suffered through it had brought forth the unfamiliar rage that Mew had felt upon first laying eyes on the child. Before she regained her senses, Mew lashed out with a Psychic Attack while Ho-oh (who had been equally incised by the unwarranted attack on the child) fired the dark attack Punishment at the same time. The moment the two attacks brushed up against the child on their way towards the man that had dared harm the little one, the magic in them was pulled into the child by his magic where the duel attacks unlocked a rare gift.

"Mew," Mew gasped in shock as the gift that they had inadvertently unlocked immediately flared to life in the little one.

Ho-oh let out a hiss of agitation and self-castigation and the two of them both flinched as the magic in the air around them flared in irritation before fading to forgiveness as it dissipated; Magic was irritated by their interference but also understanding as she knew they'd only been acting in defense of her chosen champion. Clutching her tail, Mew curled up in remorse as her eyes remained riveted on their charge. Not long after that, things took a turn in their favor as the man attempted to get rid of the little one. Mew quickly encased the box he'd been locked into with one of her pink bubbles to protect it from being damaged when it was thrown from the train while Ho-oh stood ready to heal the child should he be seriously injured by the fall.

The landing was rough and the crate bounced and rolled a few times but didn't appear to be harmed. Ho-oh then used Ancient Power to open the crate so they could make certain that the child hadn't been seriously injured. Both Pokémon were pleased to find that aside from a few scraps and bruises, the child had survived the tumble unharmed. Mew then left Ho-oh to watch over the child while she went to find her chosen companion so that she might start influencing the young mother. Oh, she wouldn't force the female ninetales into bonding against her will but she would encourage the soon-to-be mother to look beyond the child's humanness and see the wounded child inside.

By the time the child had stumbled deep into the Wilds and passed out in a clearing, Mew had enticed the mother into crossing his path. The little pink Pokémon twirled in glee when the ninetales didn't hesitate to investigate. She did, however, tickle the young Pokémon's conscience each time it looked as if she was going to abandon the child where he lay. Silently reminding her that he was just a helpless child just like the pups she carried in her womb. In the end, Mew had chosen well for the young ninetales picked up the child and carried him back to her den.

Leaving Ho-oh, the three Legendary Beasts, and the Nine Guardians of the Lost Wilds to watch over the child, his new mother, and his human protector, Mew flittered off in search of the little one's second companion. This time, Mew wanted to find the boy a friend that could grow with him. One that was playful enough to make him laugh and small enough not to be intimidating. It would take her almost a year to find a suitable match.

She'd searched high and low during that time until she stumbled across a clutch of newly laid dratini eggs and soon noticed that a single egg had, for some reason, been abandoned just minutes after it had been laid. Running her little paws over the egg, she used her telepathic abilities to brush against the mind of the unborn dragon Pokémon and found a hardy little dratini with a playful and friendly nature. Like when she'd first found the mother ninetales nearly a year earlier, Mew knew the little Pokémon inside of the egg would be worthy of being companion to Magic's Champion. Collecting the egg, Mew immediately took it back to Kanto only to find that the Child of Prophecy and the Champion of Old were not at their house and there was no sign of the mother ninetales.

Mew then traveled to the Lost Wilds where she discovered that the young mother was preparing to give birth to her second litter but that the child was no where in sight. She worried that the ninetales had abandoned the little one, only to learn from the Guardian Nine that the winter had been too harsh for the child and that a young vulpix from the female ninetales's litter had taken her place at the child's side. Mew understood then; the mother had raised the child as her own and then sent him into the world to make his own way much as she did with her trueborn pups.

From there, Mew Teleported to Ho-oh's side only to find the Rainbow Pokémon sleeping deeply atop the Bell Tower in Johto where the fire bird made his home. The little Pokémon felt at a loss at that point as she hovered above the Bell Tower while petting the dratini's egg while she tried to figure out how she was going to find the little one so she could give him his next companion. She knew that Celebi, Lugia, and Ho-oh as well as Giratina, Palkia, and Dialga had all fulfilled the tasks assigned to them by Arceus which left only herself and… possibly Victini, Cresselia, and Darkrai still working to complete their assigned tasks. Perking up, Mew closed her eyes and concentrated on Victini first.

Two minutes later, Mew was floating beside the squirrel-like Pokémon with large ears as he crunched his way through a large pile of what looked like freshly made poffins. Mew watched the Victory Pokémon devour seven of the poffins before she finally shook herself out of her reverie and let out a giggle as she called out an inquisitive, "Mew?"

"Vic, vic ni!" Victini cried as the large eared Pokémon jumped in fright, scattering his poffins all over the place.

"Mew," Mew apologized with another giggle as she wrapped a pink bubble around herself to protect herself and her precious cargo from the Flame Burst attack the duel fire and psychic type Pokémon reflexively fired at her. She then scolded the other Pokémon. "Mew! Mew, mew! Mew! Mew, mew, mew, meeew!"

"Vic! Victini ni! Vic, vic tini!" Victini fired back in return, his voice more than a little touch sullen.

"Mew."

"Tini!"

"Mew?"

"Vic, vic tini ni," the squirrel-like Pokémon finally replied after Mew used Telekinesis to gather all of his scattered poffins in silent apology for frightening him.

Mew thanked him with a final, "mew," before she teleported to Mr. Coronet in the Sinnoh Region to search out the Hypno that Victini had found to help free the Child of Fate from the darkness that bound his soul. She hadn't been in the area very long when a Pokémon addressed her telepathically.

"_Hello, playful one, I have been waiting for you._"

Mew spun happily before she used the thread of magic tied to the mental voice to Teleport herself to the Pokémon's side and found herself floating upside down in front of Hypno. She giggled happily before somersaulting twice to right herself as she hugged the little one's unborn companion close to her and smiled at the Hypno.

"Mew?"

"_Yes, that is correct; I am the one that Victini asked to help Fate's Child. The little one is still here on the mountain; Ash Ketchum carried his soon to be son from my home just this morn. The child has grown in the year since he first stepped into our world and he shall flourish under the care of the Champion of Old._"

"Mew, mew?"

"_Yes, the darkness smothering his soul and his magic has been removed. It was powerful evil magic but the child fought against it as I guided him through the nightmare he had been trapped inside by the Bearded Demon._"

"Mew?"

"_Yes, the little one was traveling with his Pokémon companions; a yearling vulpix and an infant ponyta._"

"Mew? Mew, mew. Mew?"

"_The three of them were very close; the vulpix especially. No, the child no longer felt terror in the company of Pokémon; the mother ninetales taught him well and as yet holds a place in his heart._"

"Mew! Mew."

"_You're welcome, playful one. Please help yourself to a few poffin before you leave; it will take both of Prophecy's Children another four days to reach the small human city at the base of the mountain._"

Mew ended up staying with Hypno for the next four days, resting for the first time in close to a year as her fellow psychic Pokémon took care of the little one's next companion. Feeling refreshed and excited to know that she'd soon be able to deliver her precious cargo to the child she'd quickly grown fond of (despite the fact that she'd not spent much time with him), Mew collected the egg from Hypno, thanked him for his hospitality, and darted off down the mountain in search of the man that held her heart and the child that filled her heart with hope.

She caught up to them just as they boarded the human flying machine and promptly turned herself invisible when the little shiny vulpix glanced sharply in her direction. The little pink cat-like Pokémon shivered in excitement as she felt the constant ebb and flow of unrestrained and untainted magic flowing around the child. His soul shone brighter than ever and she couldn't help but preen knowing she'd helped free the child from chains that had bound him to the darkness. She let out a soft giggle and danced in the air for a few minutes as the machine took the skies before she dashed after the scent of the little one's magic racing on the wind.

Once she caught up with the flying machine, she finally tasted the little vulpix's magic twining around the child's magic and she was pleasantly surprised to discover that the little male's magic tasted very similar to the magic that had drawn her to the mother ninetales. Mew gasped softly before letting out a giggle of pure joy as she realized that it hadn't been the mother ninetales that was meant to be the child's first companion; it had been the unborn child she'd been carrying at the time that Mew found her. That's not to say that the mother hadn't been important; she'd been very important as she'd been the mother that the child had needed at the time and she'd taught him how to open his heart. Feeling inordinately pleased with herself, Mew playfully danced about on the threads of magic skating across the sky.

She spent the rest of the day following the near family about as they traveled to another city, spoke to the other humans, took their Pokémon for a check up, and spent the night in one of the buildings with the other humans. Mew would have tried sneaking the child's egg into the room where they slept if not for the tiny vulpix diligently guarding the room against intrusions. She didn't mind needing to stick around a little longer; she enjoyed watching the child and was glad for the excuse to be allowed to stay close to him (which in turn allowed her to stay close to Ash).

The next day was spent much the same as the day before; shadowing the two humans and their Pokémon companions as they met with friends, explored the ruins, and celebrated the child's birthday. Seeing the small birthday celebration gave Mew the perfect way to give the egg to the child without needing to expose herself or place the egg in harm's way. That night, while the boy and the man slept, she flitted about the town looking for a human that could help her and soon found him in the caretaker of the local Pokémon Nursery. She then searched amongst the Pokémon staying at the Nursery until she found a trustworthy glameow to watch over the egg for the night.

Once the egg was safe and secure, Mew returned to the room where Ash was sleeping with the little one and used telepathy to slip into Ash's dreams in order to plant a small seed of desire that would encourage the man to take the child to the Nursery before they left town. She lingered as she watched the seed take root and sprout before she reluctantly withdrew and just as she was tempted to visit the dreams of the little one, bright flame blue eyes locked onto her light blue eyes (though she remained unseen) and warned her away. She jumped a bit at the unexpected interference but only smiled and sent the vulpix a mental giggle of pure joy before she popped away in order to sew the rest of the seeds of inspiration that would see the little unborn dratini safely in the hands of Magic's Champion.

The next day, Mew was once again dancing with anticipation as she sensed the little one's magic drawing nearer to where she was hovering far above the nursery watching over the child's egg. Everything had been going according to plan as the caretaker of the Nursery collected the egg from glameow first thing in the morning. She then watched as Ash ushered the child into the building and the caretaker led the pair on a tour of the facility before she gave a slight nudge to Ash in order to get him to speak of the child's birthday. Another nudge prompted the caretaker to hand over the egg along with warm birthday wishes and Mew giggled and spun on her tail as the little dratini's egg was carefully tucked into the child's backpack.

The pink Pokémon then waved her tail and shot up higher into the air, content to return to her worldly explorations until she skidded to a halt and pulled her tail around so she could chew on the end; recalling how she'd been slightly mistaken on which Pokémon was to be the child's first companion. Mew briefly worried about something going wrong with the bonding between the child and the unborn dratini until she thought up the perfect solution; she'd stay and watch over the boy until the egg hatched to make certain nothing happened to the egg or the child. Decision made, Mew dove back down towards the earth and soon caught up with the small group.

The next five months passed by in a blur of laughter and joy for Mew as she watched the once broken child heal as he basked in the love he'd found with the man that held Mew's heart and the Pokémon he'd to whom he had bonded. She'd just about burst with excitement when she witnessed him making his first every human friends and felt as if she could fly straight to the moon the day Ash became the child's father. The longer she watched over the pair the more she wished she didn't have to watch from a distance. Only the presence of the very intuitive little vulpix kept her from making her presence known to the two humans; the little fire-fox was highly protective of the little one.

Even after the dratini hatched out of his egg at the end of those five months and successfully bonded with the child, Mew couldn't bring herself to leave. She'd grown addicted to the taste of his magic and the growing playfulness that his magic exhibited as he continued to grow by leaps and bounds. When the child started going to school once again, Mew would split her time between watching over the child and keeping the lonely dratini company throughout the day. Playing with the little water dragon was almost as much fun as dancing in the wind with the child's magic; the dratini firing his water gun at Mew while Mew would catch the water in a bubble and then dump it on the dratini (to the dragon's delight).

Just four months after the hatching of the dratini, things would take an abrupt turn for the worse when another human attacked the child due to the gift that Mew and Ho-oh had unintentionally unlocked. Mew had been playing with the little dratini at the time when both Pokémon had felt the little one's magic spike in anger and then again in fear before all traces of his magic suddenly disappeared. She'd become frantic over the sudden loss and sent out a telepathic cry for help even as she Teleported herself to the school; the little dratini latching onto her at the last second.

They popped into the classroom where she'd last sensed the child's magic and saw the man kick the little vulpix. Ho-oh arrived just seconds later and lent the wounded vulpix his strength as the fire-fox let loose a Fire Blast attack. Mew, seeing all of the children in danger due to the vulpix's anger and pain, quickly wrapped them in pink bubbles to protect them as the classroom exploded outwards. She stayed there to continue protecting the children from the flames until the child's ponyta and Ash's pikachu burst into the room to lead the children clear with the help of the man that ran the school.

She grew a little frantic when she didn't see Magic's Champion amongst the children as they were led from the room and left dratini behind (the little dragon diligently using his water gun to put out the flames) as she frantically searched for the little one. Without the threads of his magic to lead her to him, it took Mew close to an hour to locate the child at the hospital where he'd been taken by the humans. She stayed just outside of the child's room, watching over him, until he woke. Over the next handful of days Mew agonized over the changes in the little one as he withdrew back into his shell once more; she felt she'd failed Magic's Champion.

After a week passed without change, Mew came to the realization that her task had not yet been completed; the child needed one more companion that could adapt to any situation in order to better protect the child. Determination filled the little pink Pokémon and she took off into the sky to begin her search.

This time, the search would take her four long years to find a suitable companion for the little one. During that time, she'd found any number of Pokémon that would have been a close match but she had hesitated to select one of them because she was determined to find another perfect match. Once she found the Pokémon, she coaxed and enticed the little female to follow her to the child. They only made it as far as town the humans called Ecruteak City in the Johto Region (where Ho-oh lived in the Bell Tower) when she finally realized the Pokémon was carrying a litter of young and wouldn't be able to travel much further without risking herself or her young.

Mew promptly chose an innocent and friendly human to watch over the chosen companion while she left to bring the little one to his new companion. She was in luck! The boy was already traveling through the Johto Region when she found him and she was a bit surprised to find that he'd found himself two new companions during the years she'd been away from his side. She frowned briefly as she wondered if the child would accept another Pokémon before she shook off her doubts; the one she'd spent all these years searching for needed him as much as he needed her.

Taking a closer look at the two new companions, she found that the little delibird was fairly young; not much older than the dratini that had hatched out four and a half years earlier. The little bird was brave, sneaky, and utterly devoted to the child. The trapinch, on the other hand, was far older than all of the other Pokémon; that family of dragons (flygon, vibrava, and trapinch) being nearly as long lived as the dragonite, dragonair, and dratini. He was a rather grumpy individual that was also serious, loyal, and a touch bashful. He brought both experience and balance to the small group that was filled with playful, jolly, impish, and slightly naughty natures of the other four Pokémon.

Nodding to herself, knowing that her final chosen companion would fit right in with her hardy and adamant nature, Mew gave the man who held her heart gentle nudges to get him to visit Ho-oh's home. It didn't take much to convince Ash to take the child in that direction; the man already having business to attend to there. She only wished the pair would travel faster as she disliked leaving the child's final companion all alone knowing she was rather defenseless at the moment due to how close she was to giving birth. The little pink Pokémon actually darted back to the city to check on the little mother-to-be when the family was just a couple of days away from the city.

Mew was thrilled to find the Pokémon had given birth and with the help of the little human girl well on her way to recovering from her long journey. She spent several hours admiring the newborn kits and even nudged two of the little female kits towards the little girl that had been taking care of the mother; to reward her for all of her help. Mew then rushed back to Ash's side in order to urge him to hurry as she was growing more and more excited about the moment when the little one would bond to the final companion she'd chosen for him.

When Mew returned to the city with the small family in tow, she immediately drew Magic's Champion towards where his new companion was waiting for him. She could sense the wariness in the young vulpix as he immediately recognized her presence; though the little male had never actually seen her (only sensed her). She was just considering sending the little fire-fox a calming touch when disaster struck as both she and the Child of Fate caught sight of a shadow darting around the corner towards where mew had been herding the child. Mew immediately recognized the shadow as the ghost of the mother eevee she had selected as the child's final companion and she dashed up and over the building to find a terrible sight.

She was just getting ready to teach the humans that had dared to attack her chosen when Magic's Champion confronted them himself. Curiosity cut through Mew's anger and she tipped her head to one side as she watched the unfolding scene below. The dainty little cat-like Pokémon's eyes grew wide in amazement as she saw a glimpse of the strength inside of Magic's Champion as the young man that had once been a frightened boy faced the other humans unflinchingly side by side with his Pokémon. Mew absently protected the tiny eevee kits as she watched the five companions finish the fight with the help of the little one's magic.

Mew then grew sad when Prophecy's Child mourned the loss of his last companion and Mew cried a tear of her own as her heart ached for the lost bond. At the same time, she felt hope because the child that filled her heart with hope had grown strong during the years she'd been searching and the first two companions she'd chosen for him had grown alongside of him. When the child sought to claim the orphaned kits, Mew nudged the human female that had shown up with Ash to allow the child to take them and reinforced the attachment that two of the females had formed with the young human girl that had cared for the mother eevee.

The next few days were spent watching over the child and the newborn kits and Mew soon came to understand that even though her final choice of companion for the child had not bonded with the child, her task was complete. Magic's Chosen was protected and loved and that was all that was needed. In that moment, the thread of magic that had tied Mew to the child released her and she sighed sadly knowing that she'd never again watch over the child on his journeys. That night, Mew slipped into the child's room as he slept and curled up against him for a moment; seeking and offering comfort as she accepted that this would be goodbye. She then stood up and timidly walked forward to kiss the child's sleeping brow as she cried a single tear that splashed down onto his face.

Mew then turned to go only to find herself face to face with the vulpix. The two of them stared at one another for a long minute before the little fire-fox reached forward with his paw to wipe away another tear that clung to her eyelashes as he solemnly stated, "Pix. Pix, pix."

"Mew," Mew murmured in reply as she closed her eyes and gave the vulpix a warm smile before playfully making a little pink bubble pop itself on the vulpix's nose.

She giggled as the vulpix sneezed in response. She then somersaulted a couple of times in the air before she darted out of the child's room to say goodbye to the man that held her heart. As she hovered over Ash, Mew let her little paw trail down the side of his face as she drank in the peaceful expression he wore on his face as he slept. She smiled again as she recalled the long months she'd watched over him and the little one years earlier and how close the two of them had grown over that time. Mew knew the two of them would be safe and happy together. Letting out a soft giggle, Mew Teleported out of Ash's room and speed off across the sky as she headed home to the Tree of Beginnings for a well deserved rest.

Behind her, from his perch on the Bell Tower, Ho-oh silently watched her go before he resurrected the spirit of the mother eevee and sent the brave little Pokémon to Professor Elm who would find her a home with a fine young man two months later.

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><p><strong>AN:<strong> _Mew has to be one of my all time favorite Pokémon; definitely my favorite Legendary. So writing this omake/extra was an absolute ball and it mostly wrote itself though there were a few rough spots that had needed to be smoothed over. And while I realize that Mew is more than a little out of character, part of that is the thread of magic that bound her to her task; Magic and Arceus wouldn't want her to fail simply because she lost interest after all._

_Anyway, now you know which companions Mew was responsible for finding; Firasia (the mother ninetales), Trickster (the runt from Firasia's first litter), Splash (the little dratini), and the eevee (the mother and partially her kits). The rest Harry found all on his own. And while her choices didn't always work out the way she planned, they all worked out for the best in the end. And even the momma eevee got what she wanted in the end; a companion. _

_The next omake I have in the works is one with Jessie, James, and Meowth as well as one with the missing unown that followed Harry and Ash into the wizarding world. Spy Cat's omake is almost complete as well now thanks to the bit of help from Jostanos with the prank I was stuck on. _

_Last note here… I've recently edited all of the chapters for this story and have just finished replacing all of the chapters. However, I did not make any large changes to the plot and only added around 3000 words to the original story (not counting author's notes or the date/place stamps I added to the chapters to make it easier to follow the time-line of the story) so you don't have to go back and re-read the story unless you want to. I've also been editing WWYR1 which will have a few significant plot updates (in the form of a new final chapter) and will have at least 6,000 words added to the story itself (again not counting author notes or the date/place stamps). I'll be uploading those chapters soon now that I've finished updating this story and hope to have the first chapter of WWYR2 up once I've finished updating YR1 (sometime around New Year's Day if all goes well). _

_For now, I hope you've enjoyed this extra chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. ~ Jenn_


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